Hanumanthappa Patil, veteran journalist and writer, died in Bidar on Thursday. He was 80. He was ailing for some time and died of age-related ailments, family sources said.
He was the first president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat in Bidar in 1972. He organised the first district-level Kannada Sahitya Sammelan in Bidar in 1974, that was presided over by G. Venkatasubbaiah, lexicographer.
Hailing from Ambalpad in Bidar taluk, he served as a school teacher in Bidar. He served news various organisations, including PTI, Daman and some Kannada and English newspapers, for over four decades. He wrote several monographs and books about Bidar, culture of Kalyana Karnataka and the development of Kannada in the backward north-eastern Karnataka. The State government honoured him with the Rajyotsava Award in 2008.
