Last week, one of The Australian Financial Review’s most-loved journalists left the paper after 20 years writing, editing and turning up, every day, to the office.

His departure, over carrot cake and danishes, was a wake and a celebration. He intends to write a doctorate on the work of a 19th century English poet, Henry Austin Dobson, an ambition so admirable for a newspaper man that respect overwhelmed the disappointment of losing a decent colleague.