Vale Malcolm McCosker

Retiring due to illness in August just three months shy of 50 years' service to the paper, Malcolm, 73, died in Brisbane yesterday morning, leaving behind his second wife Chrissy and daughters Gabrielle and Danielle and son Malcolm from an earlier marriage and stepchildren Rory and Christina McLeod, and eight grandchildren.

Tributes from all corners of rural Queensland and beyond are starting to flow as news of Malcolm's passing spreads.

Initial reports of his demise were met with profound shock and grief. Selling at yesterday's Dalby Stock Horse Sale was paused to announce the news, testament to Malcolm's standing in the community and the genuine affection in which he was held by people from all walks of life.

Queensland Country Life general manager John Warlters said he last spoke with Malcolm two weeks ago, and found him positive and optimistic.

"He was up for the fight and had lost none of his sense of humour," he said.

"That's one of the things I loved about him - with a few quick words he could capture the moment and unselfishly make the other person feel at ease.

"It was a knack that endeared him to QCWA ladies, showgirls, young judges and young ambassadors alike in his role as a judge, master of ceremonies and awards compere."

Also a former editor of QCL, Mr Warlters said Malcolm was "an editor's dream", for his can-do attitude and ability to churn out lively and engaging copy, often under pressure and working to tight deadlines.

"Words came easily to Mal, his writing connected with readers not only because he knew his stuff but because he was a natural story-teller," he said.

"His descriptions of western and north west Queensland were Wilbur Smith like. The way he saw people was the way he described them in his stories. They weren't tall or short, big or small but had skin like tanned leather, they were whipcord thin and they rode bucking four wheelers.

"Mal had a great memory. He was a collector of stories and anecdotes and a hoarder of note books, sale catalogues and property brochures.

"His desk was proof of that - so was his former office in Queen Street which he filled to overflowing. When nothing else would fit, including himself, he set up another desk outside."

Current Queensland Country Life editor Mark Phelps said Malcolm was a champion of rural Australia, particularly rural Queensland.

"Mal had an outstanding knowledge not just of beef but also of dairy, pigs and poultry," Mr Phelps said.

"He seemed to know about everything. He could speak with authority on the behaviour of wildlife, how to produce honey or what was involved in preparing a prize winning fruit cake for the Queensland Country Women's Association or how to snig a log out of the depths of some hidden valley in his beloved Sunshine Coast hinterland.

"But it was much more than just a broad knowledge, Mal was genuinely passionate about rural people and had the gift of being an outstanding story teller.

"He could capture the essence of person and their situation, or an event, and give it meaning. Through words and pictures he could provide a clear picture and go straight to the heart of the matter."

Malcolm's lifetime contribution to Queensland Country Life and rural journalism was recognised last year when he was the inaugural inductee into the Queensland Rural Press Club's journalism hall of fame.

"It was fitting and deserved," Mr Warlters said. "I remember Mal's acceptance speech. There was substance and humour. He was humble."

Born at Nambour on the Sunshine Coast, the second of seven children of Edward and Margaret McCosker, Malcolm spent his early childhood

on their dairy farm at Mapleton and then up to his teenage years on a relative's pineapple farm at Beerwah.

While there he attended Beerwah State School and then Nambour High School, where he completed an agriculture course that helped to inspire his lifelong interest in all things of the land.

In 1954 he returned to the family farm at Mapleton and became actively involved in the then Junior Farmers Organisation - later Rural Youth - during which time he represented Queensland as a farm exchangee to New Zealand for three months in 1959.

During that study tour, Malcolm supplied written reports of his NZ experiences to his local paper, the Nambour Chronicle, as well as QCL, a practice that probably helped to hone his later flair for journalism.

Seeking a new career, Malcolm applied for and was accepted into the editorial department of QCL on November 11, 1961, working under legendary editor Wallace Skelsey.

After one year in the Brisbane office, Malcolm was appointed as a regional rep based in Townsville, covering a vast beat that extended south to Rockhampton and west to the border.

During his time in the north, Malcolm reported on the early stages of the Brahman breed's growing influence in the tropics and its offshoot breeds, the Droughtmaster, Braford and Brangus.

Two years and two children later, Malcolm was transferred to Toowoomba as a regional rep, covering a wide range of subjects from Darling Downs cropping to beef and dairy industries and sheep and wool in the far south-west.

In 1968 the family transferred to Brisbane where Malcolm worked as assistant to editor Wallace Skelsey where he became heavily involved not only with reporting duties on all rural industries, but also in the selling and preparation of stud livestock advertising - a dual role that he continued to some degree for the rest of his career.

In May 1972, Malcolm was seconded to become editor of QCL's sister newspaper and founder, NSW Country Life, based in Sydney.

Partly as a result of the disastrous beef slump and loss of revenue that began in 1973-74, NSW Country Life was sold to rival rural publication

The Land in 1975 and Malcolm returned to take over as editor following the retirement of Wallace Skelsey in September that year.

In later developments, QCL was taken over by The Land in 1977 to become part of the growing Rural Press group, with Malcolm serving

in several positions as editor, deputy editor and livestock editor.

Among the many recognitions of Malcolm's contribution to rural industry and his craft, he received the Queen's Jubilee Medal in 1975 and was honoured with the OAM in the 1988 Australia Day Order of Australia list, both for services to rural industry and rural journalism.

In his role as a long-time motoring editor for QCL, Malcolm received four 'best story category' awards though the Queensland Motoring Writers Guild annual competitions.

When he retired in August this year, Malcolm said it was the unique character of country people, their generosity, honesty and enormous capacity

of triumph over adversity that had remained consistent during his near half-century career.

It was that element of the job that he said he would miss most of all.

A celebration of Malcolm McCosker’s life will be held at the RNA Showgrounds in Brisbane on Monday, December 19 starting at 11am.