Veteran Adelaide journalist Murray Nicholl has lost his battle with cancer. Murray Nicholl was diagnosed with leukaemia in September last year and died at his own home on Sunday morning.
He worked at the Adelaide News, 5DN, 891 ABC Adelaide, Fiveaa and Channel 7 Adelaide. In the mid 1980′s he replaced Mark Day on 3AW drive and later took over from Derryn Hinch for the all important morning slot. Below is a transcript of his Ash Wednesday report.
It was in the 1983 Ash Wednesday Fires that he became a household name across Australia. Live to air on 5DN & 3AW, then part of the Macquarie Radio Network, he described his house burning down. The audio of that event soon spread right across the world. For his effort he went on to win a Walkley Award.
At the moment, I’m watching my house burn down. I’m sitting out on the road in front of my own house where I’ve lived for 13 or 14 years and it’s going down in front of me. And the flames are in the roof and—Oh, God damn it. It’s just beyond belief—my own house. And everything around it is black. There are fires burning all around me. All around me. And the front section of my house is blazing. The roof has fallen in. My water tanks are useless. There is absolutely nothing I can do about it.[
Rest In Peace Murry your freinds in Melbourne are missing you.