Jane Holmes has joined Neil Mitchell in remembering (audio below) former 3AW colleague John Worthy.
John (bottom row, second from left in the pic below) was one of the great names of radio news reading in the 1960s and 70s.
“He had the most beautiful and mellifluous voice, when he told you a story you paid attention to it,” Jane said.
“He was a lovely man, a sweet, humble, gentle soul.
“He wasn’t big noting about his talent at all.
“A little piece of radio history has left us.”
In his early radio days John worked as a news presenter at 3XY and 3AK. In the ’60s he was one of the newshound on the 3AW program While Melbourne Sleeps – a round up of police reports from overnight.In the ’70s he used to make a weekly trip to 3BA Ballarat to write and voice commercials.
The late Keith McGowan who became 3AW’s long term mid-dawn presenter once spoke with affection for his mate John Worthy, saying, “I often think of John as it was he who in 1958 jammed my finger tips in a car door as he unexpectedly slammed it shut. Anyone who has seen the tips of my eight fingers will know what a mess of them this incident made. To this day I am troubled by them. Each time Worthy and I catch up, as we did today at Survivors Club we talk about that day and him rushing me up to St Vincent’s Hospital. I guess it’s too late to Sue the Prick!”
John’s son Adam, informed 3AW of his father’s passing last night.
It is with an extremely sad heart that I pass on that my Dad, John Worthy, passed away at 9.25pm last night (Sunday).
He was much loved by his family and died in our arms.
As you know he enjoyed an amazing career as one of Melbourne’s greats of radio.