JOHN LOIZOU REMEMBERED

                                

 The  Northern  Territory   News  has  run  an  in  memoriam   for   John  Loizou , above , a prominent  Darwin  and  Vietnam  journalist, who   died  nine  years  ago  in Perth , Western  Australia, aged 70.

During his  varied  media involvement in  Darwin , starting with the ABC ,  he  launched   the South  East Asian Times , continued  today  online  by  his  partner  Christine   Pas ,  last  heard  from  in  Vietnam , intent on  coming  back  to   Darwin.  She once ran a  popular  cafe  in  Darwin  and wrote about  Xavier Herbert , author of the l938 prize winning novel , Capricornia, set in  the Territory .

John  , from Melbourne , was   close  to  and  admired   a  former   editor  of   the   NT News,  the late  Jim Bowditch .  Upon  the death of  Bowditch  , he wrote  the  special  appreciation  for  the   Murdoch paper. 

Loizou was highly regarded by the Vietnamese government   . This  blog  suggested he  should  be  inducted  into the   Australian  Journalism  Hall  of  Fame   at   the   time  of   Bowditch's posthumous  induction,   last   year .

Apart  from his involvement with  independent newspapers in Darwin  and  many  causes , Loizou  had  extensive  contacts in Asia . At one stage, he lived  aboard a  boat   in  Darwin  which  had  been used  to  run drugs , seized   by  authorities , placed  on  the  hard  at  Doctor's Gulley.