Ricky Lo, chronicler of Phl cinema, 75

Ricardo “Ricky” Lo, The STAR’s long-time Entertainment editor and columnist, passed away Tuesday night, leaving behind a legacy unrivaled in the field of entertainment journalism.

- NATHALIE TOMADA

Sir Ricky, as he was fondly called by colleagues at his Port Area newspaper, died past 10 p.m. due to a stroke, according to an official statement by his younger sister Susan Lee. He turned 75 on April 21.

A proud Waray, Sir Ricky was born in Las Navas, Northern Samar, where he completed grade school. He spent his high school years at the Tabaco Pei Ching School in Tabaco, Albay, where he would start writing and compiling letters to newspapers and magazine editors. He was an AB English graduate of the University of the East. But being a huge movie fan, Sir Ricky said the ultimate dream in his youth was to work as hardinero (gardener) of movie queen Susan Roces. He got more than what he dreamt of, building a career in journalism as stellar as the stars he covered.

From 1969 to 1972, Ricky worked as editorial assistant of Variety magazine, Sunday supplement of the old Manila Times where his Funfare column started. He joined the Philippine Daily Express as staff writer of ExpressWeek magazine and as deskman of The Evening Express and eventually of the main broadsheet. He later went on to work as editorial assistant for its Sunday magazine, Weekend, until 1986.

He would have stints as entertainment editor at The Manila Times and The Manila Chronicle before heading the entertainment section of The STAR, where he wrote his Funfare column and Sunday feature, Conversations with Ricky Lo, every day for more than three decades.

Even from his hospital bed, Ricky Lo beat deadlines and penned his widely read columns. He would have marked another career milestone this year – 35 years with The STAR, which he joined shortly after its launch in July 1986.