Mr Morris died on Tuesday evening at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne, aged 72.

Mr Morris was a well-known Bendigo resident who used to write a relationship column in the Bendigo Advertiser.

Mr Morris, who was born blind, was president of the Central Victorian Community Broadcasters and held positions on the Institute for the Blind.

He was yesterday remembered by friend Richard Jones as a caring and inspirational man. “I’d broadcast footy preview and wrap-up shows with him since the early 90s, first on Triple C FM and then on Phoenix FM,” Mr Jones said.

“But I’ve known him since the 80s. He was blind since birth but he still managed to get an arts degree and a law degree.

“He spent his working life as a counsellor – marriage and relationships, anything to do with people who had some sort of drama in their lives.

“I was very, very fond of him.”

Mr Jones said his friend had a head tumour that travelled up the sinus canal on the right side of his face and into his brain.

He began radiotherapy in January but his condition deteriorated and he had been in respite care at the Austin Hospital.

Former Bendigo Advertiser editor Wayne Gregson was yesterday saddened to hear the news of Mr Morris’s death.

“That’s tragic,” he said.

“He wrote a column in the Bendigo Advertiser for many, many years about relationships and why people do things.

“But we were friends beyond the Bendigo Advertiser. I often thought that for a guy with no actual sight he had more insight than most people I’d ever met.”