Kevin Sinclair, journalist, author and passionate supporter of Hong Kong, died yesterday after a long battle with cancer. He was 65.
With a gifted turn of phrase and a talent for spotting a good story, Sinclair's career in journalism included roles as reporter, news editor and columnist with the South China Morning Post and saw him collect an MBE from Britain's Queen Elizabeth.
Along the way there were countless scoops and thunderous columns, dozens of books, many drinks and Tap Mun seafood lunches, and a fierce loyalty to friends, family and the city he had called home since the late 1960s.
His battle with cancer - which started with a tumour in his throat and bestowed upon him his trademark tracheotomy - may have persisted since the mid-1970s, but it did not stop Sinclair from continuing to give readers his rare insight into the heart of the city - or from living life to the full - right up until his last days.
Many of his friends and fans - from Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, former police commissioner Dick Lee Ming-kwai and SCMP Group chairman Kuok Khoon Ean - will consider themselves lucky to have been able to say goodbye at the launch of Sinclair's autobiography, Tell Me a Story: Forty Years of Newspapering in Hong Kong and China, last Wednesday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club.
Sinclair had to stay seated during the event but was bravely prepared to acknowledge well-wishers and sign just about every book in the room. Two days later, he was readmitted to hospital for the last time.