Vale John Hamilton

Legendary Herald Sun journalist and war historian John Hamilton has died after a long illness.

After an award-winning career that spanned more than 50 years, Hamilton retired as an associate editor of the Herald Sun in 2011.

He had worked for the Herald and Weekly Times as a reporter, columnist, feature writer and foreign correspondent for 32 years.

Hamilton had served as Washington and White House correspondent, chief London correspondent and European editor, and covered events from the death of Princess Diana and the Port Arthur massacre to Black Saturday.

A successful author, he twice won the Walkley Award for Best Reporting in Australia. 

His acclaimed war histories included The Price Of ValourGallipoli Sniper and Goodbye Cobber, God Bless You.

Hamilton was presented with the Melbourne Press Club’s 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award and was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2015.

Herald and Weekly Times Managing Editor Peter Blunden, who was John Hamilton’s editor for more than 10 years, paid tribute to his great achievements as a journalist.

“John was a master of his craft, deeply admired and respected by his peers. He was always first pick to cover the big stories, anywhere in the world. He could always be trusted to produce work of the highest quality,” Blunden said.

“John was a beautiful writer, but an even better human being. Urbane, intelligent, engaging ... but so, so humble. He will be sadly missed by the profession which held him in the highest esteem”.

Watch John Hamilton's Lifetime Achievement Award speech

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