Yesterday the author and journalist Sam de Brito, 46, was found dead in his North Bondi home. Police are not treating de Brito’s death as suspicious.
The editor-in-chief of The Sydney Morning Herald, Darren Goodsir, and editor-in-chief of The Age, Andrew Holden, issued a joint statement:
“Today is an enormously sad day for our newsrooms. Our sincere condolences go to the family and friends of our colleague, Sam de Brito, a regular columnist for the SMH and Sun Herald for close to a decade – and more recently for the Sunday Age newspaper. His death overnight comes as an enormous shock.
“With his authentic views, and raw, colourful take on life, he attracted a large online audience, drawn to his forthright commentary. He was certainly not one for political correctness, and had very broad interests – being equally able to match cheek and controversy with empathy. Sam was just at home with American sports as he was with popular culture, world affairs and politics.
“His final column, published on Sunday about his young daughter and his experience with co-sleeping, is typical of his beautiful, intensely personal style.”
