Port identity dies suddenly

Doug Wright, the Otago Daily Times' long-serving shipping columnist, died suddenly at his home in Port Chalmers yesterday. He was 83.

Mr Wright penned a weekly shipping column for Allied Press Ltd for 59 years, starting in August 1954, with ''Ships and Seas'', written under the pseudonym ''The Bo'sun'' and published by the Evening Star.

In more recent years, he wrote the ''On the Waterfront'' column in the ODT.

Born and raised in Port Chalmers, Mr Wright was widely regarded as an institution in the town, where he was also a familiar face to innumerable cruise ship visitors to the port, entertaining them by playing the organ at Iona Church.

Mr Wright, a retired painter, was also a keen railway enthusiast, historian and photographer.

An obituary will follow.