By John Silvester
I last spoke to Mickey on Thursday. It was about a refugee story I thought was up his alley - Michael had become a passionate voice for people who often could not be heard.
He told me he was just back from New South Wales where he had visited an old colleague from The Age who had been seriously ill.
Michael Gordon, John Silvester and Martin Flanagan at dinner in 2017
He was delighted to report that the last scans were positive. Typical of Michael, he was there for others.
Super fit, Michael loved Phillip Island and was delighted when he clocked a certain birthday so he could compete as a senior in some of the competitions.
Michael Gordon in 2017.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Sometimes he would leave home at 4.30 am so that he would be surfing a dawn – before heading into the office.
He started to take as much pride in his veggie patch as the swag of professional awards he had won in decades at the top of his game.
In the office we would talk about our footy club, the Hawks, where he had taken over from his father, Harry, to update the history of the team in The Hard Way.
A serial hugger, you knew he was about to sit next to you when you received a massive slap on the back by way of welcome.
He was so conflicted in taking a redundancy from The Age as he really loved the place.
On his last day, he tried to sneak out the back door because he hated the fuss and staff had developed a tradition of standing and applauding respected journos on their way out.
I grabbed him and told him he needed to do the walk so I could film it for his children. And so he made the emotional walk, bursting into tears when he reached the lift.
I pressed the wrong button on his phone. It didn't record.
I was at last year's Walkley Awards in Brisbane when he received the most outstanding contribution to journalism.
He and his lovely wife Robyn were beaming and his speech was typically measured and humble.
In a business full of blowhards, Michael was the real deal.
The last thing he said to me was "Good to chat."
Hey Mick, the pleasure was all mine.