Former Shropshire Star photographer Mac who moved into fine art world dies at 72
A former Shropshire Star photographer who built his own 38ft boat and also moved into the world of fine art has died.
Malcolm Ozanne – known as Mac – worked for the paper from June 1978 to June 1993 and was based at the Oswestry office.
Mac, who was 72, later gained a BA degree in fine art and worked as a freelance. He had his own photo studio and his photographs and artworks were exhibited.
He had lived at Glyn Morlas, St Martins, but moved from Shropshire about eight years ago and lived at Cemaes Bay, Anglesey, for five years. Just over two years ago he moved to an old cottage in Morfa Bychan, near Porthmadog, which he was doing up.
He had been unwell for some time and died on October 6 in hospital in Bangor, North Wales, and an eco funeral was held at the Eternal Forest on the Llyn Peninsula on Friday, October 18.
"We agreed on this a long time ago. We used to go out in his Discovery on day trips and this was one of his favourite places, the middle of the Llyn Peninsula," said Mac's widow Julia, who survives him along with sons James and Michael.
Born and bred in Oswestry, Mac's first newspaper job was on the Border Counties Advertizer, before joining the Star.
"He felt privileged to record local history as it unfolded," said Julia.
Speaking from his coastal home in March, Mac said: "We love it here. The beach is just three minutes away.
"I play music with a bunch of guys who get together in a few local pubs. I'm not a brilliant musician, but I get by playing bluesy stuff on my guitar and rattling along on my washboard to the Cajun and Zydeco stuff.
"While I was with the Star I built a 38ft steel sailing boat called Freelance. We kept her in Porthmadog for about 15 years until we sold her in about 2007. We always promised ourselves that we would retire here sometime.
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"We moved here just over two years ago and brought our 38ft boat Capercaillie here too. We bought her in Scotland and sailed her down to a mooring in Holyhead. Luckily we moved her from there before the Beast from the East destroyed the marina berths – we could easily have lost her."
Former Star chief photographer Ken Done said: "He was very popular with his work colleagues and everyone who came into contact with him when working in the Oswestry area thought highly of him.
"When he left the newspaper he went to do a degree in fine arts and went on to do fine art prints. And he did a nice stainless steel sculpture, an abstract of a jumping trout, which stands outside Chirk Fisheries."
Mac spent all his spare time to realise his five-year dream of building his own boat on a flat piece of land next to his Shropshire home in 1992.
He and Julia had wanted to sail the world, but a suitable boat for global travel would have cost around £100,000 to buy, so he settled for a project of around £25,000 and used Freelance to sail around the British Isles.
