Death by Foie Gras

Vale Richard Carleton. The hard-living hack died on the job yesterday, surrounded by his, er, media friends down at the Beaconsfield mine rescue site. At last night's Logies after-party there were commiserations – and wry observations – from those old enough to remember his greatest hits. Which counted out 80% of the crowd.

It was a bitchy TV awards ceremony, so naturally after the tear-jerking official tributes were over, we remembered the Richard Carleton everyone loved to hate.

We recalled his performance in East Timor during the 1999 elections when, fuelled by a gourmet food hamper, he turned up on polling day to do vox pops with frightened locals as they lined up to vote – while armed TNI glared at them. Undeterred, Carleton asked the locals how they were going to vote, oblivious to the potential threat to their safety.

"Vale Richard - death by foie gras," said one ABC type. "We stuff the goose – and the goose stuffs us."

A life lived full, he will be celebrated long and heartily at his funeral later this week.