The launch of 60 Minutes cameraman Nicholas Lee’s book on Sydney’s northern beaches on Sunday was a jolly affair. Publisher Allen and Unwin quickly sold all the copies of the book — All This in 60 Minutes — which covers Lee’s adventures over 30 years with the program. Channel Nine veteran Ray Martin did the launch, but other Nine luminaries were not seen at the afternoon function — George Negus, Ian Leslie, Jana Wendt, Gerald Stone and Peter Meakin were not present to get their hands on what is described as a very gossipy memoir. They may not have come, been invited, or sent RSVPs. Some of the “dinosaurs” of the program that changed Australian TV mused about how it had become an afterthought, with a fluctuating timeslot instead of the hard and fast 7.30pm Sundays it had for years. But from the talk on Sunday afternoon, the Beirut adventure has damaged 60 Minutes‘ reputation more than anything else.