Lloyd Sommerlad’s working life ranged from country newspapers in NSW to an international career with UNESCO. He wrote that his experiences at UNESCO had a profound effect on his own attitudes; tolerance and respect for different cultures, political and religious beliefs were guiding principles.

He had an abiding respect for an ordered society and a deep commitment to the betterment of the community. Throughout his long life, strongly supported by his wife, and very proud of his family, he was active, engaged, initiating and absorbed in many fields.

Lloyd Sommerlad was born on April 12, 1919, the second child of Ernest Sommerlad and his wife, Mildred (nee Vaughan). He began school, in Glen Innes, using slates and slate pencils to do sums and practise letters. In time, based in Paris, he helped to usher in the era of satellite communication.

Young Lloyd would sometimes visit the office of the Glen Innes Examiner, sit in Ernest’s proprietorial chair and declare, ‘‘When I grow up I am going to be an editor.’’ (He first realised this ambition at the University of Sydney as editor of Honi Soit in 1939.)

The family moved to Sydney in 1929 when Ernest was appointed chairman and managing director of Country Press Ltd. Lloyd attended Sydney Grammar School and then the University of Sydney, where he and Mavis Patterson met on their first day as arts students. They graduated in 1939, married in 1943 and shared a rewarding, supportive relationship for more than 70 years.

Experience in the Sydney Grammar cadets and the Sydney University Regiment led to Sommerlad’s wartime army service from 1941. He was posted to Dutch New Guinea in 1944 as an officer in a light anti-aircraft artillery unit.

After the war, Sommerlad returned to his job at the NSW Country Press Association. As a 33-year-old, following his father’s untimely death, he was given full responsibility for managing both the Association and the Country Press company. He wrote Serving the Country Press for the NSW association’s centenary in 2000.

In 1955 Sommerlad was elected for a 12-year term in the Legislative Council of NSW to represent the Country Party (now the National Party). In Parliament he made speeches on Aboriginal issues, the press, heritage and the environment, reflecting his membership of the newly formed National Trust. He served on the trust’s council and was president during 1960 and 1961 – a period of significant progress, which was recorded by his photographs, now in the trust’s archives.

Sommerlad took up a two-year contract with UNESCO in Paris in 1961 as an ‘‘itinerant expert in the development of information media’’, concerned mainly with Thailand and the Philippines. A second term saw him dealing with press, newsagencies and journalism training, undertaking missions in Libya, Thailand and India. One important project was the establishment of an Asian news network to reduce dependence on big international newsagencies, which were seen to have a western bias. His book The Press in Developing Countries was used extensively in university journalism courses in America and some third world countries.

Back in Sydney in 1965, Sommerlad was appointed federal director of the Federation of Australian Commercial Broadcasters. He noted his satisfaction in securing amendments to the Copyright Act and acceptance of his suggestion for Asian Fellows to be sponsored by Australian member stations.

Sommerlad took up a new post in January 1970 as head of UNESCO’s Division of Communication Research and Policy and remained until obligatory retirement at 60 in 1979. The last two years were in Kuala Lumpur. He was involved with the development of direct broadcast satellites for education and rural development in Arab States, Latin American and India – often bringing life-changing experiences to remote villages. In India Lloyd and Mavis were very moved to see the wonderment of villagers viewing a satellite broadcast for the first time.

He had significant responsibility for developing UNESCO programs centred on concepts for the Free Flow of Information, the Spread of Education, the Right to Communicate and Greater Cultural Exchange.

Feeling much too young to retire, Sommerlad undertook several more assignments, including one for UNESCO promoting the Asian News Exchange Network. In 1980 the federal government appointed him the first chairman of the Broadcasting Council, bringing together representatives from commercial radio and TV, the Public Broadcasting Association, SBS and the ABC. His term was extended to 1987. He was also a visiting fellow in Communication at Macquarie University from 1981 to 1984, where he established postgraduate courses.

He joined Killara Bowling Club in 1982, published a history commemorating its 75th anniversary in 1991, and continued to play, enjoy and win games until the last year of his life. His other passions included photography, gardening, fishing and boating, the Blue Mountains bush, stamp collecting, old buildings, travel – and always the daily papers.

An eye patch that he wore for the last 14 years of his life gave him a distinctive appearance and stimulated the imagination of youngsters to believe he was a pirate.

Sommerlad also documented his family history and life: first in The Migrant Shepherd, the story of his grandfather, who came to Australia from Germany in 1855, and then in a 2009 memoir As Doors Open.

Lloyd Sommerlad is survived by Mavis, three children, four grandchildren, six great-grandchilden, a brother and a sister. His older sister predeceased him.

Heather Ironmonger