Pather: a witty wordsmith

The renowned veteran journalist played a decisive role in shaping newsroom transformation

- Marlan Padayachee

Journey’s end will be at a 160-year-old Durban church for renowned veteran journalist and retired editor Dennis Pather, who passed away last weekend, aged 80.

Pather’s body will lie in state from 10am to noon at St Thomas Anglican Church in Musgrave Road — a spiritual home he and his wife Kay, a former bank employee, cherished throughout their retirement.

He will be cremated later in the day at Stellawood Cemetery, where scores of colleagues, friends, and former protégés are expected to gather in final tribute.

For months, Pather had battled failing health, yet he persisted in doing what he loved most: writing. Even as his strength waned, he continued to file columns for local newspapers, holding onto the craft that shaped his identity and earned him national respect. The news of his death has drawn an outpouring of tributes from across the country’s media fraternity.

“Dennis Pather is in a better place now, free of pain and tiredness,” said Geeta Maharaj, his longtime secretary at The Post, the Indian com-

munity newspaper Pather edited at the outset of a distinguished editing career at Natal Newspapers and Independent Newspapers. Over the years, he served as editor of the Daily News, The Mercury and