KNYSNA NEWS - This week change is afoot at the Knysna-Plett Herald, as we bid farewell to the captain of our ship, Chris du Plessis, and bring aboard the bridge a new but familiar face – that of Blake Linder.
As of Tuesday 1 November, KPH editor Chris du Plessis has retired, bringing to an end just on five years of hard work at the helm of the ship.
Chris has championed the KPH cause with much aplomb and steered us through some pretty choppy waters and a number of daunting icebergs, ensuring that not once did KPH run the risk of going down like the Titanic in a time when the print media found itself on tenterhooks (a thrilling journey nevertheless as neither Chris nor Blake make for a good 'paint me like one of your French girls' models).
This achievement could probably be credited to the fact that when he stepped through the office doors he had already racked up more than 35 years of experience in the media industry.
A man of many talents, Chris can write you a song then perform said song while recording a national television production of him performing that song and write a critical review of the performance too.
Chris is a legend of the arts and entertain-ment landscape across the country, but never shied away from exposing the ugly too, regularly digging out stories of alleged corruption, malpractice, maladministration, and so much more in local municipalities.
Never shy to crack a joke either, Chris' wit and sense of humour saw him win awards with KPH, and his keen eye for design and desire for perfection led the paper to winning a national trophy for best front pages too!
All in all, Chris' tenure as KPH editor has been a tale of success and one that will likely never be forgotten.
As clichéd as it might be, I think the most fitting way of bidding farewell would be to do so to the Sound of Music. So, to that I say – so long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu. Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu! Enjoy your retirement, Chris.
Now, from the man himself:
Turning 65 has many implications, of which one of the more poignant is often retirement. And mine now happens to be celebrated with Group Editors Co Pty Ltd and the Knysna-Plett Herald.
The past five-odd years have been an interesting and insightful ride with this brave, important and innovative company's mouthpiece for some of the most beguiling coastal havens on earth.
Tumultuous as it might have been at times during the post-wildfire epoch given a global pandemic, the dramatic local political shifts, a threatened print-media industry and so forth - the peaks thankfully outweighed the troughs and our towns and their primary source of information are still thriving.
During the past half-decade Knysna has garnered a Best Town in the Cape award and Plett a number of global holiday-destination accolades while the Knysna-Plett Herald received numerous top media trophies including Best Front Pages (from the over 100 community papers in SA) and Group Editors' Best Headline awards.
So, as I silently sip my piña colada or brandy-infused soft drink (depending on it being at a beach in Bali or a bar in Benoni) you can rest assured that this essential news vessel has been left in the more than capable hands of my multiple award-winning right-hand person of several years Blake Linder who, as newly appointed KPH news editor, will for all practical purposes be at the helm of the Knysna-Plett office.
May Knysna and its news, no matter how haywire it might get, always be so proudly and efficiently represented. – Chris du Plessis
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