At the age of 79, Australian Journalist Simon Townsend has sadly passed.
He was born in 1945 in Vaucluse, Sydney and gained attention in 1967 after he actively participated in the anti Vietnam war. Vietnam War strikes, which he advocated against heavily, were largely looked down upon in Australia and during this war, Townsend attended the protests wearing formal suits.
Townsend, to serve during the warfare in Vietnam, was given an order which he began to disobey saying “Men will not fight and therefore wars will end.” He defended his pacifism in a court and, as a consequence, he was arrested. In Long Bay Jail, he was permitted to stay there for 28 days with only water and bread. As a result of him being imprisoned, Sydney was made aware and there were protests regarding the matter claiming “Free Townsend.”
Gosford was the first place where Simon started his journalism career when he was only fifteen. Monthly Australian newspapers was also his place of work. Later on, a Zoot magazine for children was established by him. And in 1970, his television career started when he worked on This Day Tonight for ABC, which was later followed by A Current Affair.
They had a son by the name Michael and a daughter named Nadia. More so, In 1991 he visited his long lost daughter Lisbeth who was for adoption by her birth mother many years back.
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