Grief at death of Peter Harvey, beloved newsman Much respected ... PETER HARVEY died on Saturday night as he had lived, leading the news. The passing of the Channel Nine news veteran, who died from pancreatic cancer aged 69, prompted an immediate outpouring of grief and tributes by colleagues and rivals. He was always fair and fair-minded, but the main thing to say about Peter is he was always a gentlemen in an industry not known for them. Channel Nine's chief executive, David Gyngell, broke the news of Harvey's death to staff with a message on Saturday night. "This is the saddest of days for the Nine Network," the statement read. Like Tony Greig, whom we also lost so sadly recently, Peter was a huge chunk of the DNA of this place. Mr Gyngell paid tribute to Harvey's work ethic and humility: "It was the mark of the man that Peter insisted on coming to work and fronting the cameras right to the end." Paul Bongiorno from Channel Ten tweeted: "The nation has lost an icon. I have lost a dear friend. Harvey's career at Nine began in 1975, one of his first big stories being the Whitlam dismissal. He is survived by his wife, Anne, and adult children Claire and Adam. The voice of television news takes last pause It was probably the most listened to silence on television. The pause between "Peter Harvey" and "Canberra" never stretched so long as to be overly dramatic, but it was there and everyone heard it. The "Peter Harvey" and "Canberra" bits were in that deep, rich voice that said viewers were in the hands of a news master.