Veteran journalist W. G. Gunaratne passed away this morning (17).
He had been ill for some time and died while receiving treatment at the Kalubowila Hospital due to an infection of covid a few days ago.
Born in Thihagoda, Matara, he was 83 years old at the time of his death.
An expert in Sinhala and English, Mr. Gunaratne is considered to be the teacher of many local journalists.
He is an old boy of Rahula College, Matara and started his journalistic career in 1967 as the Thihagoda Regional reporter of Lake House.
W. G. Gunaratne later worked as a staff correspondent for the ‘Janatha’ newspaper, joining for a permanent job at Lakehouse.
Thereafter, he joined the ‘Dinamina’ newspaper and worked as its news editor. He also worked at the ‘Sunday Observer’ and as the Deputy Editor for ‘Silumina’ newspaper.
He also served in the media unit of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.
W. G. Gunaratne later served as the regional news editor of the ‘Lankadeepa’ newspaper and was the founding editor-in-chief of its official website.
He was married to Dulsi Gunaratne and had four children, Nimali, Nadee, Prasad and Dharshana.
