ABC cameraman John Bean, ABC helicopter pilot Gary Ticehurst, and ABC journalist Paul Lockyer stand on the salt pans at Lake Eyre in South Australia in June 2010.
Leigh Sales anchors 7.30 on ABC1
From: The Australian
DEATH makes platitudes flow thick and fast. Every man was a "great bloke", every person "special". In this case, it really is true. And not only were Paul Lockyer, John Bean and Gary Ticehurst the greatest of blokes, they were the most accomplished of professionals. You couldn't name three people more loved and admired in ABC News.
John Bean shot extraordinary pictures, but the really endearing thing about him was that he didn't seem to know how good he was.
You would rearrange your schedule in a heartbeat if it meant having Beanie, as we called him, for the assignment.
Despite decades in the business, John treated every story with the same enthusiasm as if it were his first. Interviewees warmed to him because he was humble and friendly, partial to introducing himself as Mr Bean.
He met his wife, journalist Pip Courtney, on the road. He adored her and their friends envied their marriage. Their rapport showed in the wonderful work they produced together for Landline.
I had an assignment with John a couple of weeks ago in Brisbane and it was typical of him that I received a note the night before saying, "Looking forward to tomorrow and don't wear black".
He wanted his shot to be perfect and I'd compromise it if I blended into the night sky. No detail was too small for Beanie.
Gary Ticehurst was a bloke's bloke. When I think of Gary, I think big silver walrus moustache (which he lost a few years back), BMW coupe and confidence. We all trusted Gary implicitly. There was nobody more meticulous in his maintenance, nobody more skilled in his flying.
He was proud of his military background and the experience it gave him behind the controls. And he absolutely lived to fly.
The journos used to joke that Gary was so skilled at lining up the chopper to secure beautiful shots that all the cameramen had to do was button on. Often Gary would tell the cammos when to do that too.
I hated going in the chopper because I was scared and Gary knew it. He tried hard over the years to make me love it as much as he did: flying the most picturesque routes he could find, skimming low over rivers and through gorges, tracking the NSW coastline. He couldn't believe anyone wouldn't think spending a day in the chopper was the best gig in the world.
And Lockers, the incomparable Paul Lockyer. Whenever you asked "Who's doing that yarn?", if the answer was "Lockers", you'd know it was guaranteed to be the best thing on your program.
Like John Bean, he seemed to have no idea how talented he was. He never acted like a star, always just one of the team. He was an old-style journo in the best possible way: it was all about the stories, never about Paul Lockyer.
And he was just such a wonderful bloke to be around.
I loved his company. Everyone at the ABC did.
He talked all the time about "Maria and the boys" and even though he loved being on the road, you could tell he preferred home and family.
When you saw Lockers on TV and he seemed like such a good man, what you were seeing was the real him.
There hasn't been a dry eye at the ABC today. The public will notice holes in our coverage because these three are genuinely irreplaceable. But for us who knew them, the holes are in our hearts.
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