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10th March 2002

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Appreciations

  • He inspired his 'troops' by example
  • Great sportsman



  • Denzil Peiris

    He inspired his 'troops' by example

    On March 6, 1985, the celebrated "Observer" editor, Denzil Peiris collapsed and died at his favourite London restaurant, The Akosh. He had just returned from an assignment to Austria, to his home-base where he was Editor for the prestigious "South" magazine. He was 68-years-old at the time. Many of his former team of old "Observer" and "Sunday Observer" staff members, in various parts of the world, commemorated the 17th death anniversary of their former "chieftain".

    Denzil Peiris, the maestro, was the greatest all- round editor I was privileged to have worked under in the late sixties until the late seventies. In my career as a journalist, both here and in many capitals overseas, I have worked for at least 20 editors. But none could match Denzil.

    Denzil was the complete journalist with an unmatchable gift of transcending them all in the intricate spectrum of journalistic endeavour. He had covered the entire gamut of the newspaperman's craft starting from the very bottom. 

    Denzil was a remarkably skilled compound of writer, re-write man, conjurer of headlines, layout wizard, newsman and media management guru all rolled into one. As the complete editor, I cannot believe he will ever be equalled. His choice of staff was unconventional. Mostly it was dictated by his whim, the whim of a legendary and permissibly eccentric genius. 

    Denzil was the editor and certainly looked the part. He was always nattily attired. His features were sharp and one could hardly fail to observe his dimpled, protruding jaw, which many believe is a give-away symbol of the strong-willed or stubborn. 

    Denzil was often intractable and would not let up until he got what he wanted, whether it was the transfer of a staff member, poaching a journalist from the sister paper or in badgering the administration for a promotion or monetary award for an individual, even after he had exhausted the allocation of the particular budget. He could change headlines with a pirouette of his pen, in the twinkling of an eye, giving them a catchy twist that often smacked off classical refinement. For instance the late-breaking story featuring the brutal killing of Hollywood actress Sharon Tate by the pathological cult killer, Charles Manson fell into my lap for treatment. Striving frantically to beat the deadline for the second edition I edited the agency report. Then battling against time for a suitable banner with only minutes to go I headlined the story: "Pregnant actress murdered." 

    The page-proofs were up in a matter of minutes. Glancing at his watch he twirled his pen like an adept gunfighter, poised it over the page proof for a second, slashed my headline with a flourish and substituted it with: "Hollywood sex symbol slain." 

    This was the virtuoso in his element, inspiring his troops by example. But the story of the man's genius goes beyond his brilliance. His greatness does not end there. He was a man both intelligent and passionate. He had the ability to be intensely and vitally involved in the day's events and yet the capacity to see beyond them. His attitude towards journalism was clean and he thought that journalism had some measure of social responsibility. It is true that he was demanding, authoritative and imparted his journalistic will on all around him. 

    He brought the best international standards to the local print medium, and was a real force in Sri Lankan journalism. 

    The "Observer" Denzil edited, was very much a reflection of the man himself. It was lively and zestful and a wonderful showcase for young talent. Denzil forged a close-knit and tough-minded team which was the most powerful and dynamic Sri Lankan journalism has ever known.

    If he was a great communicator he was also in the best sense an educator. His passion was not particularly for the scoop, but for intelligence, for readers to understand what was going on. An elegant man, he was one of those legendary figures who was as good as his myth. His presence was so strong that it still lives. No other journalist would ever again accumulate the prestige both inside and outside journalism as he did. 

    Gaston De Rosayro



    Hector S.A. Perera 

    Great sportsman

    Hector S.A. Perera died on January 17, his 82nd birthday. With profound sadness, I jot these lines about Hector who rendered yeoman service to Kuliyapitiya, both as a senior lawyer and all-round sportsman.

    I first admired Hector, as a schoolboy, at St. Anne's, Kurunegala, when he played cricket, for the Kurunegala S.C. in 1945. Hector was a versatile left-hand bat, agile cover fieldsman and opening bowler, the third fastest, at that time in Ceylon, the fastest being D.S. Jayasundara and next Fairly Dalpadadu. 

    Hector, also played for the S.S.C. for a number of years in the company of 'Pappa' De Saram, Sargo Jayawickrama, Mahes Rodrigo and others. The tour of India by the S.S.C. was also memorable with Hector, scoring centuries against teams captained by famous Vijay Merchant.

    Those days, cricket was played for one's leisure and other's pleasure.

    I vividly remember the match in 1952, when Hector captained, the Dandagamuwa S.C. and my uncle Felix, captained the 'Kurus' S.C. for the Laliyatte Shield. The 'Kurus team' consisted of my uncles and nephews all from one family. Hector, came into bat one down. When at four runs, he played a scoring drive to the covers and I dropped the catch he went on to score 76 runs and we lost the match and the shield.

    His wife, Anne was supportive of Hector, to the last, whether in law, sports or illness.

    Hector's passing away is not only a great loss to Kuliyapitiya, but also to his old school, St. Joseph's. May the turf rest lightly on him.

    Cdr. A.R. Cyril Fernando, SLN (Rtd.)



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