Black Inc. mourns the death of Mungo MacCallum. 

For many years, we were honoured to publish his work. Mungo was emotional, but not sentimental; sceptical, but never cynical. He brought wit to the coverage of Australian politics, and thus permanently expanded our sense of it. 

Mungo would recall sitting with Gough Whitlam on the night of his election, making use of his Sydney University maths degree to determine the moment of victory. In the years that followed, he was irreverent, acerbic and unfailingly truthful. 

He never missed a deadline. 

His work remains. Readers eager for more Mungo should refer to his wise Quarterly Essay of 2009, Australian Story, his uproarious recollections in The Whitlam Mob, and his sparkling and judicious history of Australia’s prime ministers, The Good, the Bad and the Unlikely. 

Vale Mungo MacCallum.