Ray Heath, former editor of the South China Morning Post's Business section, died in Adventist Hospital yesterday morning after a long battle with cancer.
Heath, 59, was with the SCMP during a first stint of duty from 1993 to 1995. He later corresponded for the paper from Singapore before returning to launch its online lifestyle and entertainment site, Totallyhk. He also served as editor of the now-defunct SCMP monthly magazine Banking World.
Ray was remembered with fondness and respect by former colleagues and friends.
'Ray Heath was esteemed as a highly professional journalist and as a human being,' SCMP group editor-in-chief David Armstrong said yesterday. 'He was responsible for much of the development of the Post's Business section in the early 1990s and was appreciated as a colleague and a friend.
'No matter what part Ray was playing in life - editor, colleague, friend or family man - he approached every situation with energy and enthusiasm and a love of life. His many friends here will miss him greatly.'
Another former colleague, Matthew Brooker, described Ray as 'a man with an infectious enthusiasm for life and a great sense of humour - it was impossible not to like him'.
'He was a good old-fashioned journalist with an eye for a good story,' added Gareth Hewett, who served as Mr Heath's deputy on the SCMP's Business desk.