Max Soliven's last column

My condolences with Mr. Max Soliven's family and colleagues at The Philippine Star.

Soliven dies in Japan

At six o’clock last Thursday evening, Max Soliven called The STAR newsdesk from Tokyo to ask, as he always did when he was away on a trip, "What’s the big news there?"

Later in the evening his column came in by fax, an expectedly kilometric discourse on Japan under newly installed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Twelve hours later, we got the news that our publisher and chairman had died of cardiac and respiratory arrest at the Narita Red Cross. He was 77.

He died doing what he loved best, and what he did better than most - he was a journalist to the end.

At the time of his death, Soliven was publisher and chairman of the board of The Philippine STAR, PEOPLE Asia magazine, and Mabuhay, the inflight magazine of Philippine Airlines. He was also chairman of the OB Montessori Center.

Although he did not hold office in Port Area —he wrote his column out of his home office on a manual typewriter, the ribbon of which was changed weekly — Soliven’s presence as publisher was imposing.

By phone, he checked up on stories, took reporters, deskmen and editors to task for slip-ups, but also offered praise for a job well done - but, he always cautioned, not too much praise, because "you might ask for a raise!" When he did come to the office though, he visited each department in the newsroom, chatted with everyone, and –although against his grain as an Ilocano –always coughed up money for merienda.

Read more here. For the Wikipedia entry on Mr. Soliven, click here. According to Wikipedia, Mr. Soliven's column is this.