THE man whose cartoons brightened the pages of the Echo for two different generations has died at the age of 69.

Don Osmond, better known to thou-sands of readers as Oz, had been ill for several weeks before his death at Southampton General Hospital yesterday morning.

He had suffered a second heart attack in May last year, but was back at the drawing board at his home in Gurney Road, Shirley, Southampton, a month later insisting he was fine and ready to get back to work.

His wife of 45 years, Diana, said her husband had loved drawing. "The great thing was when he was taken into hospital he was most worried about whether he would be able to do cartoons again," she recalled.

Don leaves three sons - Clive, 44, Martin, 41, and 34-year-old Julian - and three grandchildren.

His gift for cartoon drawing proved a useful skill after Don joined the Daily Echo as a reporter in 1946 at the age of 17. It helped him cope with many a marathon session in court or a tedious council meeting.

He began to contribute his regular Echo pocket cartoons in 1955 and also drew a weekly sporting cartoon for the Football Echo.

Don's big break came when he was invited - as the Echo's crime correspondent - to appear on a BBC show called Your Verdict, hosted by Ludovic Kennedy.

The producer noticed him sketching away in his notebook and offered him the chance to contribute a topical cartoon after the news every night.

After four years in this regular slot, Don took a job as producer for BBC's news programme South Today in 1964 - and stayed for 20 years.

Daily Echo Editor Ian Murray said: "Oz has been part of the fabric of the Southern Daily Echo for so many years it is hard to imagine the paper without his daily contributions.

"Like thousands of others, Oz's wry observations on life have always made me chuckle amid the hurly-burly of the day. He will be sadly missed."

The Mayor of Southampton, Councillor Derek Burke, said: "Oz brightened up our lives with his cartoons. As politicians we didn't always agree with some of his comments but he helped make us all less pompous."

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