Banks co-hosted the program alongside Ross Stevenson from 1990 to 2000 and retired at age 51.He had been battling cancer for many years, with Stevenson remembering his former colleague as a “beautiful man”. He died on Wednesday night.“He was a glorious person to work with,’’ Stevenson said.“A brilliant broadcaster with a beautiful voice and great clarity. He always said speak with a smile in your voice and listeners absolutely adored him.”Stevenson said he admired Banks’ “integrity and good sense of humour”.“Someone who thought broadcasting was to be taken seriously,’’ he said. “He adored the game of cricket in long form and loved the Beatles.”Stevenson was emotional when he revealed the news on air on Thursday morning.He said one of their favourite sayings was “don’t worry it’s flying past Mars now” — don’t worry about the past, just make the next thing better.Banks had moved to Noosa with his wife Diana after a long career in radio around Australia and New Zealand.3AW’s Breakfast US correspondent, Bob Tarlau, said Banks was a “remarkable broadcaster” who brought him to the program almost 30 years ago.“He was the one who called me, I believe it was in 1992 and said ‘Would you like to be a regular of the Breakfast program?,’’ he said.“And I said yes and I forget how many years we were on but he was a superb broadcaster and I remember meeting him a couple of times … it’s a devastating loss.”Stevenson said Banks had decided he wanted to enjoy life with his wife and moved to Queensland.
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