Gold Coast Ray White estate agent Rob Astbury dies leaving unpublished second book
The former Melbourne sports broadcaster Rob Astbury, who became a highflying Gold Coast estate agent, has died aged 69.
He died unexpectedly, but peacefully, according to reports.
After an early career in Melbourne radio, Astbury made the move to television where during a 21-year media career, he won 10 VFL/AFL awards, and was twice nominated for the Logie Awards for the Best News Story of the year.
He hit the headlines in 2006 when a biography King and I: My Life with Graham Kennedy detailed Astbury’s relationship with the late king of television comedy.
After retiring from television, he worked as a real estate agent between 1994 and 2000. For the next decade he ran a property development company in Thailand. He returned to the Gold Coast in 2010 to continue in real estate at Ray White.
The Ray White chairman Brian White said "Rob was one of our superb Elite members renowned for his creativity".
His own profile indicated he joined Ray White (Broadbeach) in 1994 and in his first year received Ray White's Rookie Of The Year Award, "possibly the oldest Rookie of all time!"
His sales achievements included the sale of the beachside home of Brian White.
Astbury had a second book in the works.
"So here are the last few paragraphs of Rob’s unpublished memoir," entertainment reporter Peter Ford tweeted.
"Yes it names names and settles scores but it’s a lot more than just that."