FCCJ Obituary

With deep regret I would like to inform FCCJ members the demise of the former Club President Frank Devine.

Frank was President of the FCCJ in 1966-67. He died this morning July 3, at the age of 77.

Mozurul Huq, President FCCJ

Frank Devine obituary

Frank would be remembered by FCCJ members of his time as described today by his friend Peter Coleman, a "laughing cavalier".

"His laughter, often noisy, was always infectious," wrote Coleman, a former journalist and politician. "He was a sports fanatic (he had a bookcase full of dog-eared Wisdens), a film buff (his favourite film was The Godfather), and a stylish writer with a love for words."

Frank was born in December 1931 in New Zealand, where he began a life in journalism as a 17-year-old cadet at the Marlborough Express.

He moved to The West Australian in Perth where he met Jacqueline, whom he married in 1959. Frank went on to work as a foreign correspondent in London, New York and Tokyo.

He became editor of the Chicago Sun-Times and of the New York Post and a senior editor at Reader's Digest. Returning to Australia he was editor-in-chief of the Digest's Australian edition and editor of The Australian.

In his later years at The Australian and after retirement from daily journalism, Frank was a columnist, sometimes stern, often genially provocative, on national affairs.

During his FCCJ presidency Frank -- "entirely a cool-headed man" records the club history Foreign Correspondents in Japan - oversaw a major expansion and renovation of the club premises, a plan which had earlier divided the membership.

He was determined and, when he deemed it necessary, blunt-spoken in pushing against the restrictions on foreign correspondents imposed by uncommunicative officialdom and the press club system.

Frank died after a long illness, though he was still contributing columns in April.

He leaves behind Jacqueline and their daughters Miranda (a senior columnist at the Sydney Morning Herald), Alexandra and Rosalind.

Peter Alford