RADIO IS A strange medium. Without all the bells and whistles of television, it has the power and the capacity to reach much deeper and more intimately into our lives. While the radio’s on, we can be spared from our loneliness, soothed to sleep, stimulated to respond to music, to theatre, to news, to the opinions of other people. So, when a great presenter who inspired listener loyalty passes away, it feels as though we’ve lost a family member. Glenn Lewington, the man who anchored and presented a late night movie music show, Classic Late Night, as well as Opera Show on the weekends, on South African radio station Classic 1027 passed away on August 16, 2018 after a short illness. He was 49.

A quietly spoken person with a great sense of humour and diverse but passionate interests, Lewington was schooled at Mondeor High School and Wits University. Broadcast media was a field that attracted him, but he was also deeply in love with African tourism and worked as the marketing manager of Kenya Airways until 2007, when he joined radio. It was a job in which he did everything from producing to presenting, and was known in the corridors between broadcast studios as a pranker. Included in his professional portfolio was cellphone news, a facility that greatly complemented the radio’s bouquet. He also presented the Afternoon Drive Show in 2010 and Classic Business. Growing and developing in the field, he presented the weekly half hour show “Africa this Week”, for national radio station SAfm, and was responsible for creating a TV news feature for a station based in Washington USA.

Born on January 10 1969 in Johannesburg Lewington is fondly remembered by family, colleagues and friends for his love of his dogs, his cheeky, zany sense of fun and for the beauty he was able to pull out of any situation, not to mention his love of music. His weeknight show Silverscreen, reached into the golden age of the silver screen, celebrating the beautiful sound tracks for the value they gave to society.

Lewington had a facility with language, and was fiercely intelligent but empathetic by nature. He was also unafraid to be candid and to speak truth. This made him able to open and facilitate intelligent discourse on anything from business to politics. He was a very loving, giving friend, but remained deeply private. He had a special love for his canine friends, and for the miracle of aviation.

Profoundly missed by colleagues and friends and loyal listeners from all over the world, Lewington leaves his mother and his elder brother Grant, sister-in-law Linda and nephew Cameron. The soundtrack from Il Postino will never sound the same again.

• Classic 1027fm hosted a beautiful memorial service for Glenn Jason Lewington at the station’s offices in Melrose Arch, on August 20, hosted by the station’s CEO Lyndon Johnstone.