I was sorry to hear that Vernon had passed away on 23 September.

He was a pioneering influence in the BBC and helped to lay the foundation for the work we are continuing to do to make sure our staff and our programmes are truly representative of our nation's diverse population. We remember with gratitude and pride his launching of London Sounds Eastern on BBC Radio London, and his generosity in mentoring and training people from ethnic minority backgrounds for the BBC.

Vernon will be greatly missed for his warmth, his integrity and his commitment. May I offer you and your family my sincere condolences in your loss.

With kind regards and best wishes

Greg Dyke

Director-General, BBC

Writing about Vernon Corea presents a challenge such as one would not normally encounter when paying tribute to a colleague and friend who has passed on. He was such a complex and multi-faceted personality that one would not know where to start. Does one talk about him as a broadcaster or as a raconteur or as a comedian or as a mimic or as a man of deep religious convictions or as a man of incredible contradictions? He was all of these things and more.

I first heard of Vernon Corea, as many others too did, before I had ever met him face to face. In the early nineteen sixties Vernon was probably the most popular male voice heard over Radio Ceylon's English Commercial Service. It was Vernon who compiled and presented that incredibly popular listener's request programme every Sunday afternoon, called "To each his own" for over a decade. This was the programme that served as a channel through which popular American music, particularly "Country and Western" songs poured into Sri Lanka and fashioned the musical tastes and values of a whole youth generation.

I actually met Vernon for the first time when I assumed duties as the Director General of the Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation in 1966. Throughout my stay
at Radio Ceylon Vernon worked very closely with the management and his loyalty and commitment to his responsibilities was never in doubt. Starting as an announcer and presenter he rose rapidly to exercise higher managerial responsibilities.

At any time, life at Radio Ceylon is turbulent for managers. The tension between artists on the one hand, who instinctively want to be a law unto themselves and habitually resist discipline and on the other, managers who are bound to maintain a framework of good management, is always intense. It was to Vernon's great credit that he served in both roles, as a professional broadcaster as well as, as a manager, without compromising either role.

Certain personality traits helped him to maintain this difficult balance. He had an extraordinary sense of humour and a capacity to see the funny side in every situation. Whenever a situation threatened to boil over Vernon had the happy knack of deflating the tension with some funny comment which would make everyone laugh. In fact at one time one wondered whether he took anything so seriously as to be beyond joking.

In many respects Vernon represented a dying culture. In the best sense of the term he was essentially a Public School boy, a typical product of Royal College of the pre-56 vintage. His sense of loyalty to his management and to his profession and his compassion and concern for those who worked under him were exemplary. I recall many instances when he would intercede on behalf some hapless subordinate who had fallen foul of the management without ever flinching from his loyalty to the latter. He typified the moral qualities of his schooling, viz. integrity, loyalty and professional excellence. There were certain things which he considered as simply "not done" and which he was incapable of doing. He was incapable of disloyalty to the traditions of his school, of disloyalty to his superiors or of disloyalty towards his subordinates and it was the special quality of his personality that he managed to balance these contradictory impulses with consummate ease and humour.

When the culture of Sri Lanka as a whole and the culture of Radio Ceylon in particular changed dramatically post 1970, Vernon was rapidly reduced to the plight of a dinosaur, completely out of place and unable to survive in the harsh new environment. So it was that from about 1973 Vernon started seeking new pastures abroad. I had myself moved to London by then and I recall Vernon wrote inquiring whether I would recommend him for a post in Radio Worldwide in England and sponsor his work permit which I did most readily. So it was that Vernon, Monica and their three children moved to England about 1975.

Vernon went on to distinguish himself at Radio Worldwide and within a few years was invited by the BBC to head their new, " Ethnic Minorities Unit" where he worked till retirement with great distinction.

No tribute to Vernon Corea can be complete without a reference to his religious convictions. The eldest son of the Rev Ivan Corea and brother of Ernest Corea, who was one time Editor of the Daily news and later Ambassador to Washington, Vernon was a man of deep religious convictions. It will be correct to say that in addressing whatever task that confronted him Vernon's first impulse was to turn to God. He seemed to look on every circumstance as, in some rationally unexplainable way, as God's inexorable will for him. In a sense this was the source of his strength, the strength that enabled him to weather circumstances that would normally have crushed others. His faith in Jesus Christ was non-negotiable and indestructible.

Having said all this, if one were to do justice to Vernon's incredibly complex personality, one must also say that Vernon's life was also fraught with contradictions, as indeed life is with many of us. However, Vernon did not flinch from those contradictions and it was the measure of his courage and of his convictions that he chose to live with them, even at the cost of the reproach of others, rather than run away and hide.

In a real sense Vernon's passing is also a reminder that the curtain is falling rapidly on an era. That era has long since been moved to the sidelines and is now being completely dismantled. Vernon was one of its few surviving representatives.

We condole with Vernon's wife Monica, his three children, Vernon (jnr) , Ivan and Ouida, his seven grandchildren and his in-laws and wish them all God's blessings.

end

The Suave And Inimitable Mr.Vernon Corea Remembered.

He was a giant amongst broadcasters suave and inimitable during his days at Radio Ceylon later to become Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation as the News Director and much more! and a sheer guiding light to all the young aspiring broadcasters with a young at heart approach to inspire them and who were fortunate enough to come under his wing.Vernon was sheer magic with his incredible sense of humor and ingrained broadcasting skills with a deep velvety voice to match and a no nonsense type approach to the many sessions of pleasurable broadcast journalism he was involved with until his departure to England sometime during the turbulent 50s and 60s if memory holds correct.

A perfectionist in every aspect of broadcasting, knowledgeable, flamboyant and outspoken in any situtation demanding integrity and honesty he never was one to mince his words displaying great charisma and decorum of another time and age which seems to have all but dissapeared in the world of broadcasting today and commanded great respect from all his subordinates as well as his peers which included the fiery late Livy Wijeymanne the one time no nosense Director.

A true gentleman with a penchant for lyrical expression and a kindly disposition towards the lesser talented juniors always encouraging them to perfect their skills he was a tower of strength to the Broadcasting Industry of his time and leaves behind so many fond and revered memories during his tenure which surely brings a smile to those who remember him.Especially at the shows he compered! being a brilliant showhost with a wonderful sense of humor.

His associates at the British Broadcasting Corporation where he worked as a co-ordinater for ethnic minorities as reported during the latter part of his career have raised many accolades to his charming personality and have been very appreciative of his presence there.

Sincere heartfelt condolences go out to his family as his life is remembered as a celebration of joy and appreciation of a wonderful personality who exuded a rare Joie de Vivre to all who were fortunate enough to know him.
I was one of them for a brief period in time.

May his soul rest in eternal peace.

Sunimal Perera
Montreal
Canada