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Media legend Derryn Hinch famously loved a long lunch.
Just three weeks ago, Hinch, often referred to as the Human Headline, was at the head of the table at a gathering of what is known in Melbourne circles as The Survivors Luncheon.
Although it was not particular long by his standards – a little over three hours – it was, perhaps, Hinch’s last big lunch.
Established decades ago as The Great Survivors by Bert Newton, Ron Tudor and John Proper, the gathering is a private, twice a year lunch for people who have survived in the media game.
Having been sacked from media roles 16 times over his career and constantly bouncing back, Hinch, who died on Friday, was the great survivor in a robust, competitive, demanding, constantly changing industry.
On June 20 at The Emerald Hotel in South Melbourne, Hinch was the unofficial special guest at the event, which included about 40 media identities including Mal Walden, Denis O’Kane, Rod Hardy, Gordon Bennett, Annette Allison, Beverley Pinder-Mortimer, Ash Long, Chris Ryan, David Mann, Bob Phillips and Jack Levi.
Hinch had been a regular at the gathering in recent years with Pinder-Mortimer, a former City of Melbourne councillor and his friend of more than 50 years. Six months before, he was the guest speaker at The Survivors Luncheon gathering.
I, too, was among the guests at the June event.
“In my heart, I didn’t think he would see another Survivors lunch,” Pinder-Mortimer said on Friday.
“So it was very important to have him there, and it meant a lot to him to be there. He said it was a wonderful afternoon when we were in the car on the way home.”
At 82, Hinch had taken to using a walker, which he had named Johnnie Walker, after a series of falls at home.
Seated at the table, he caught up with friends, took many photos, and ordered his usual pie and mushy peas, before swapping that meal for a bowl of soup.
“He would always have one glass of white wine with ice, with the approval, according to Derryn anyway, of his transplant surgeon, and a small pie with mushy peas,” Long, the publisher of the Melbourne Observer, said.
“It was a happy final lunch surrounded by friends who admired and loved him.”
While noticeably frail, Hinch, who I called Mr Hinch – and he called me Ms Byrne – was very much looking to the future.
He shared with me his early plans for his 85th birthday, and when I remarked that it felt like I had only just been to his 80th, he said: “I need something to look forward to.”
I promised him I would attend.
He was very much hoping a recent operation on troublesome cuts on his legs, which he had been dealing with for almost nine months, would finally help them heal.
We made plans for a Friday lunch, which now will never happen, in the not-too-distant future at Gentleman George, his regular lunch spot across the road from his Melbourne apartment.
It was a day of happy memories.
Former Channel Seven and Channel Ten newsreader Mal Walden also caught up with Hinch.
“We spoke about books that we have written and are writing,” Walden said.
“We touched on politics. He was still sharp as a tack and could still carry on a good conversation; deep and meaningful. He was a good sounding board for many aspects of Australian politics, and he could see both sides.
“When you think of all the things that he achieved in his lifetime, you know, he ruffled a few feathers along the way, but he really made his mark and he should be remembered kindly.”
Hinch wasn’t the last to leave the lunch, like in the days of many decades gone by when he was a champion in the long lunch stakes. In fact, he was one of the first to call it a day.
Former 3AW newsreader Tony Tardio met Hinch with a huge hug and warm kiss when he arrived at The Emerald and revealed Hinch was the reason he got into radio when addressing guests.
Tardio told how as a uni student working part-time cleaning floors at a supermarket at the Prahran Market he would race to finish his shift at 8.25am to be in his car at 8.30am to hear Hinch’s usually blistering editorial on his 3AW morning show.
The pair went on to become friends and colleagues through their long association with AW.
“Derryn, I love you,” Tardio told the “Survivors”, and Hinch shed a tear. So did others in the room.
“There’s only one Derryn Hinch, and I am sad that he’s gone because they don’t make them like him any more,” Tardio said on Friday.
“If there was a journalistic James Bond, it was Derryn. ”
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Fiona Byrne is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners
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