BANGALORE, OCT 18: Y N Krishna Murthy, Editor of Kannada Prabha, who died on Friday night onboard a New York-Bangalore flight, was 73 and a bachelor.YNK, as he was universally known, was an institution by himself. His anecdotes on men and matters have found their way into many award-winning books written by well-known Kannada writers.The remark made by a writer once, ``YNK has influenced me so much that I consider my book as plagiarism, pure and simple,'' was typical of the attitude many writers, artistes and film-makers had towards YNK.YNK was a `natural' journalist. He scored a high first class in Kannada from Central College in Bangalore where actually he was studying science. He gave up science half-way to work in Deshabandhu, a Kannada daily. He joined Prajavani in 1949. The front page of Prajavani, designed by him, won National Awards thrice. He edited the paper from 1977 to 1983. In 1991, he joined Kannada Prabha as Editor.Widely travelled in India and abroad, YNK was a Thomson Foundation Scholar among other things.In essence, though, YNK's greatest service was as an inspirer of talent, a catalyst of creativity. From non-stop sessions at his house have emerged milestones of Kannada culture, from Pattabhirama Reddy's movie, Samskara, to the flowering of Girish Karnad. YNK was always an eagerly-read film critic, drama critic and book reviewer. But he didn't stop with just writing on these much loved topics: he went out to spot talent, mix with them, and influence them seminally.Karnataka Government honoured him with the Rajyotsava Award in 1986. He bagged the State Sahitya Academy Award for humour writing and the Karnataka Patrika Academy Award for Journalism. He has written a dozen books. His weekly column `Wonder-Kannu' was a staple of Kannada readers.
