I WANT to pay tribute to Maleny resident Andrew Stewart, who passed away following a vehicle accident at his Sandy Creek farm last week.
Andrew was a publisher, writer, entrepreneur and farmer who lived life with passion and energy.
He gave me my first full-time job as a journalist 20 years ago when he owned Publishing Services Australia.
He published titles including Queensland Business Review, Owner/Driver and Blues Country Magazine.
A shrewd operator, he sold to ACP just before the internet swallowed so many print titles.
More recently, he was a generous mentor as I built GC&M News and The Sentinel.
Andrew often spoke about “retiring”, always with a glint in his eye.
It was never a claim you could take seriously.
He was our weekly columnist for The Sentinel, writing under the “Henry Somerset” moniker, where he championed the region while skewering the hypocrisy and waste of politicians without taking sides.
He delivered this column every week on time without fail. So good!
As a former journalist, he wrote for titles including BRW, he had many enthralling war stories about his run ins with politicians.
He was always waiting for our delivery driver, Noelene, to hand over the latest editions and regularly sent through story tips for the papers.
In a world of echo chambers, Andrew brought a fresh perspective to the issues of the day, something I deeply appreciated.
He dropped into our office just two weeks ago and, unfortunately, I was out.
The team told me he took the time to walk around, speak to everyone about that day’s publication and ask what they were working on.
He was genuinely interested. I know my team valued his wisdom, perspective and encouragement.
One of his last messages to me was a photo of an empty Sentinel newspaper stand: “No Sentinels in Kilcoy on Saturday. Popular read. Print more!”
The accident also claimed the life of his friend and Somerset artist, Jim Purcell (left).
I took this photo of the two of them last year at the Esk Garden Fair.
RIP Andrew and Jim.
