Former Austereo presenter Jon Kennedy has died in China, where he was working for China Radio International.

Kennedy was a prolific emailer who maintained contact with his many friends in the Australian radio industry by regular brief email updates about his activities.

The last two emails received by radioinfo were sent two months ago. In one he described his new job (see below) and in the other he told of a radio journalist colleague who had been “taken away” for reporting the wrong things.

In his May 2004 email he wrote:

Hello,

Just a quick hello and update. I am still in Beijing and life is treating me well. Working at CRI – China Radio International as a journo/editor and reading news and hosting a daily news/magazine programme called Real Time Beijing.

I have a nice Chinese girlfriend and seeing plenty of Asia and China. It has been an incredible insight into Chinese state run media, the propaganda is outrageous and very frustrating to deal with but the experience is invaluable.

I have managed to crack the voice over market as English language is much sought after since the accession into the WTO and with the Olympics around the corner. Plenty of corporate voices, documentaries and bucket loads of disgraceful propaganda to attach my name too all in the benefit of re-educating those western imperialists seeking hegemony! (smile).

Really life is superb here. I am off to Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou etc and driving down the Chinese east coast towards the Vietnam and Thailand border next week. I am planning a Tibet (holiday) and Middle Asia trip in summer ( hopefully work related ) to the “Stans” like Tajikistan, Uzbekistan etc and western China to Xinjiang if I can manage to pull it off or don’t end up with a job back home or some strange disease in the meantime.

There is still so much to see and do.

Oh, and my news assistant at work is named Wan Kee! Working with Yang Lei(Young Lay) and I. Hope you are well!

Up, Up and Away!

JK

Goodbye Jon Kennedy.