Avoiding the stereotype of Grumpy Old Man has become a part-time job for former editor, Paul Murray.
Back at the newspaper as a three-day-a-week columnist, special writer and now blogger, Murray worries that the constant opportunity to criticise casts him as a misanthrope. He’s happier with his description in a book on journalism and the law as "a sunny, optimistic man". However, more than 35 years in journalism does tend to harden the skin, thicken the blood and shorten the patience. And after six years on talkback radio, he’s been on the receiving end of just about every epithet invented. However, as an optimist, he’s looking forward to something completely original.
