SCOTTISH journalism has lost a unique talent with the tragically early death of Phil Mulvey at 45.

It's a sad irony that he died on his own after a fall in his Ha Noi apartment. He spent his life surrounded by friends, usually with them doubled up with laughter at his stream of jokes, patter, and his observations on the absurdities of life.

His razor-sharp wit and skill with words were allied to an innate curiosity and easy-going nature which made him a natural newspaper journalist. A gifted raconteur, he could go to any new town or city or country and have pals within five minutes.

The son of an Army doctor father and a maths teacher

mother, he was born in Ipoh, Malaya, in October 1956, and spent spells of his childhood there, in Germany, and in Glasgow.

He was sent at 12 to St Joseph's College in Dumfries, then Scotland's leading boarding school for Catholics. The school had a huge influence on him and, perhaps because he didn't have a settled home town, Dumfries came to be his spiritual centre.

He joined the staff of the local Dumfries Standard almost straight from school and was quickly marked out as a talent. He proved that by winning Young Journalist of the Year within

two years.

In 1978 he moved to the Aberdeen Evening Express, then regarded by Fleet Street as one of the best training grounds in the UK for talent. By1984 he was off again, this time to achieve his schoolboy ambition of working on the Daily Record.

He shone there, but was particularly remembered for his superb coverage of the Lockerbie disaster inquiry. His skill at taking such a complex issue and turning it into a ''good read'' without deviating from the facts was hugely admired by all, including the advocates and families of the victims.

He also had a talent - and a penchant - for the frothy tales that help sell the tabloid press. After the Maxwell fiasco, he grew disillusioned at the Record and spent a spell trying to set up a freelance agency in Cuba - for a one-time Tory he had a remarkable love of Marxist countries.

Too much red tape led him to go to work on China Daily for two years but the hierarchy and officialdom there got on

his nerves.

He landed a job in Ha Noi with the English-language Vietnam News and immediately fell in love with the country and its people. He sent regular freelance articles to the British press and was branching into radio just before his untimely death.

Phil was also a superb photographer and friends were trying to encourage him into a photo-journalist career - he had the talent to have worked for any publication in the world.

Sadly he had embraced the self-destructive habits of too many journalists and had battled the bottle with varying degrees of success. He will leave literally hundreds of friends all over the globe grateful to have known him and so sad that they won't enjoy his company again.

Philip is survived by his mother, Kate, three brothers, and two sisters.

Philip Anthony Mulvey, journalist; born October 1956, died August 2002