Thursday, March 8, 2007

Endless Summer

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Farewell to a great mate.
I first met Morgan when we the two young guys working on the SMH Business Desk. I remember that he never seemed to be doing anything, but somehow always came up with a story. After a few weeks of not even acknowledging me, we became mates when he co-opted me into skiving off work early and driving him to Bondi to watch a nude surfing competition. We drank beer on the beach and spent most of the time lamenting that no women had entered the contest.
We'd both matured a bit by the end of 2005, when we met up for lunch one Friday in Sydney. It was the end of a busy week for him, he had broken the story about Robert Gerrard and the Reserve Bank board. He had started explaining how he had only looked into the story to avoid having to do any "real" work, when the office called. Robert Gerrard had resigned. Morgan was gone within seconds, stuffing a spring roll in his mouth as he flew out the restaurant's door.
He was laid back, but never boring. He could infuriate, but no one could ever stay angry with him. He was always fun.

He was a great friend and I will miss him a lot.

March 9, 2007 at 7:00 AM
Anonymous said...

Morgan was a friend and someone to admire. How can anyone be so relaxed, at least on the outside. Only affairs of the heart seemed to phase him.
My favourite Morgan story doesn't involve surfing or sailing.
One night at the SMH, he and I decided to duck out for a beer. We figured we could be back within an hour unnoticed, with the added benefit of not being forced to trawl wire services for one line briefs. Our communication was via a mail system on our desktops, and off we went for a beer. I'm sure it was his turn to shout when one of our colleagues appeared suggesting we head back to the office. A big story had broken and Morgan had to write it. The editor knew where we were because Morgan had failed to delete our messages. Instead he'd left them flashing on his screen for everyone to see.
I returned, panicking. Morgan sauntered in, suggested everyone just settle down and in about 45 minutes wrote the lead story to the section.
I spoke to Morgan twice on Tuesday. He wasn't that fussed about chasing politicians around, but he was really enjoying his job. He loved Indonesia, his friends and his life.
Now, two-and-a-half days after his death, I am going to allow myself to think about him. I know I'll have a very sad weekend.

Sean Aylmer

March 9, 2007 at 9:45 PM

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