Obit

Dunning, 73

AMERICAN JOURNALIST Bruce Gardner Dunning died from injuries suffered in a fall last August 26. He was 73.

Dunning joined CBS News in July 1969 as a reporter and worked there until he retired in 2005. He was assigned to the Saigon bureau in August 1970 and reported on Vietnam war. In July 1972, he became a correspondent for the division’s Tokyo bureau. (“Bruce Dunning, CBS News correspondent who reported ‘the last flight from Da Nang,’ dies at 73“)

Dunning’s 1975 report on the last evacuation flight from Da Nang, South Vietnam won the Overseas Press Club’s “Best TV News Spot from Abroad” award and was added to the Columbia University Journalism School’s 100 Great Stories list. (“CBS correspondent Bruce Dunning dead at 73“)

Dunning was also one of the first American broadcast journalists to report from North Korea. In 1981, he opened the CBS News Beijing bureau and became the Asia bureau chief based in Tokyo in 1989. He also served as president of the Tokyo Foreign Correspondents Club.

Peach, 78

AUSTRALIAN JOURNALIST and television presenter Bill Peach died of cancer last August 27. He was 78.

Peach started as a cadet reporter for ABC radio in 1958 and was host of the current affairs program Telescope of Channel Ten in April 1965. He also hosted ABC’s This Day Tonight from 1967 to 1975.

After leaving ABC, Peach ventured into presenting documentaries including Peach’s Australia (1975), Holidays with Bill Peach (1976), and Bill Peach’s Journeys (1983). (“The life and legacy of televison presenter and intrepid traveller Bill Peach“)

Peach wrote books on Australian history and was a columnist for The Sun-Herald and travel editor of New Idea. He received awards including a special Logie for Outstanding Personal Contribution to Australian Television in 1975, and was made a member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Australian media and tourism in 1991. (“Passing of a Great Man: Farewell Bill Peach. Thank you for the adventure.“)

Fellow journalist George Negus, who worked with Peach in 1975 recalled that “he was very calm, very composed, very together and very sensible when he was surrounded by a bunch cowboys like myself at the time.” (ABC News)