Australian television presenter and journalist Simon Townsend died has died aged 79.
He lost a short battle with an aggressive cancer.
“In his final days, Simon was surrounded by his family and a mix of journalists, writers, actors, political activists and Italians,” his family said in a statement.
“The conversation to the last was loud, passionate and full of laughs.”
Townsend was widely known for creating and hosting the children’s show Wonder World! which aired on Network Ten from 1979 to 1987.
Townsend and his Wonder World companion Woodrow. (Supplied)
The show, which produced more than 2000 episodes and won five Logie Awards, was hugely popular and considered a staple in many households.
It melded current affairs news with entertaining reporting, tackling issues like mental health, bullying, grief, social justice and war.
He would sign off every episode with: “and remember, the world really is wonderful.”
Simon Townsend. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV Publicity)
Amanda Keller, whose first job was at Wonder World!, paid tribute to “the groundbreaking force that was Simon Townsend”.
“I was a researcher there, and was lucky enough to work alongside some of the most talented people of my generation … I’ll be forever grateful to the show, and to the groundbreaking force that was Simon Townsend. My condolences to all who loved him,” she said.
Townsend was born in 1945 and grew up in the Sydney suburb of Vaucluse.
Townsend first made headlines in 1967 for being a loud objector to Australia joining the Vietnam War.
Active in the anti-war movement, he made a point of showing up to protests in a three-piece suit.
When he was conscripted, Townsend refused orders, declaring that “wars will cease when men refuse to fight”.
He appeared in court, where he declared himself a pacifist, and was thrown in Long Bay Goal, where he spent 28 days in solitary confinement on bread and water.
Townsend was front-page news and there were “Free Townsend” protests and graffiti in Sydney.
Townsend’s journalism career began with a cadetship at age 15 at a Gosford newspaper. He wrote for a few more local papers before working for the Weekend Australian and starting children’s magazine Zoot.
He began his work as a TV journalist in 1970 on ABC’s This Day Tonight, before working on A Current Affair.
It was during his time at A Current Affair that Townsend met Rosanna Torso, who he married and had two children, Michael and Nadia, with.
In 1991, Townsend reunited with his daughter Lisbeth, who had been put up for adoption by her birth mother.
Rosanna was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died in 2003.
Townsend later rekindled with his girlfriend from his youth, Kerrie Gleeson, and married. They lived together for six years before she died suddenly in 2015.
He spent his recent years retired.
Townsend is survived by his three children, Lisbeth, Michael and Nadia and five grandchildren; Rex, Lenny, Lola, Ollie and Augie and his brothers, David and Stephen.
