Premil Ratnayake
Premil Ratnayake, (Sinhala: ප්‍රෙමිල් රත්නායක; 3 April 1933 – 10 April 2013), was a Sri Lankan journalist, writer, diplomat, and former First Secretary (Press and Information). Ratnayake was a prominent journalist, having worked at The Lake House, "The Daily News", and "The Island". He also worked for Lalith Athulathmudali, and at the Ministry of Trade and Shipping. In 1984 he was assigned to Bonn, Germany, as First Secretary, for Press and Information. Later in his retirement, he returned to "The Daily News" for a period. Early life. Ratnayake Mudianselage Premil Ratnayake was born on 3 April 1933, in Hatton , Ceylon. He was the fourth son of Mudianselage Marshal Ratnayake and Rossyln Paranavitanage. He had four siblings; Willy, Wimala, Edwin (former Commissioner of Labour) and Lal, former DIG. Ratnayake was an exceptionally talented student, athlete, boxer and cadet at Ananda College. Personal life. Premil married Jasmine Ratnayake in 1964, they had three children; Manohari, Sirimali, and Nayomini Ratnayake Weerasooriya. Journalism and writing career. Initially he started work at the Bank of Ceylon, he later left to pursue his passion, which was writing. He joined Lake House, as a journalist for the "Ceylon Daily News". Premil worked alongside the likes of  Mervyn de Silva, who was the editor of the Lake House, Willie de Alwis, D. B. Dhanapala and Christie Seneviratne. Ratnayake was a skilled writer and could speak Sinhalese, Tamil and Hindi. In March 1970, Premil covered the historic event of the arrival of the Apollo 12 mission crew, for the "Ceylon Daily News", part of a 20-nation goodwill tour, to celebrate the successful voyage to and back from the moon. Apollo 12 was the second spaceflight to land men on the moon, consisting of Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., Richard F. Gordon Jr., and Alan L. Bean, visited Ceylon . The crew was welcomed by the then Minister of State, J. R. Jayewardene, US Ambassador Andrew Corry, and the Mayor of Colombo, Vincent Perera. Ratnayake was assigned to cover the 1977 Parliamentary elections, this included all the election meetings held by J. R. Jayewardene (at the time the Leader of the Opposition), on behalf of the Ceylon Daily News. They covered almost all parts of the island. Government positions. Later, on invitation from Lalith Athulathmudali, Ratnayake joined the Ministry of Trade and Shipping, to handle publicity for the Ministry. The government then sent him to Bonn, Germany, as First Secretary , for Press and Information in 1984. Post Retirement. After retiring, Ratnayake returned to Lake House, to write for "The Daily News" briefly. Since he was a writer and journalist belonging to the old world order, he didn't fancy writing on computers, and managed to get himself the only typewriter left at the Lake House as he simply says ""To hell with the modernity, the scuttling mouse. All this sophisticated hi-fi gadgetry nauseates me and threatens to kill my journalistic creativity. Give me the typewriter any day – I am like an orphan child re-united with his mother. To  be true I detest the computer. Only the typewriter can instil in me the desire to write. Its touch the loving caress, inspires me. Maybe I am naive and old-fashioned but I am me and I am in love with the old mistress."" Death. Ratnayake died on 10 April 2013, at the age of 80. Bibliography. Ratnayake wrote several books in his lifetime, four of which were published. One notable example was an autobiography of Lalith Athulathmudali. War and Warriors (1996). Ratnayake's first novel, was launched in 1996. The story follows Kumar Ranjana, a boy aged 10, and  his life ordeals during World War II, following the Easter Sunday Raid, where Japanese forces attacked Ceylon on Easter Sunday. The Third Person Note (1997). His final novel, "The Third Person Note" was launched on 12 November 1997, it was held at the National Library Services Board Auditorium, and was attended by Gamini Weerakoon, editor of "The Island", and Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, president of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement.