Friends and colleagues of writer Paul O'Neill, who died Monday at 84, say his books will be read and enjoyed for many years to come.

O'Neill, who specialized in the history of his beloved home city, had a varied career that included decades of work with CBC Radio and an acting career involving the stage and screen, had been in poor health for several months.

O'Neill wrote several books, the best-known of which is the two-volume The Oldest City, originally published in 1975 and reissued in 2003. O'Neill was uneasy about the title selected by his publisher, as he admitted that St. John's could not actually claim to be North America's oldest city.

Yet O'Neill cared deeply about his home city and province, and with numerous organizations, including the Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Newfoundland Historic Trust and the Beothuk Institute.

"He was passionate about Newfoundland," said former Lt.-Gov. Ed Roberts, who first met O'Neill before he entered politics in the 1960s.

O'Neill started working with CBC in 1953, and went on to produce numerous shows for both radio and television, including Reach for the Top and Skipper and Company, as well as a series of school broadcasts that brought radio plays and other materials into the curriculum.

He wrote plays himself, as well as poetry. By the time O'Neill retired from CBC's arts department in 1986, he had already established himself as an author, specializing in history.

Not formally trained in history, O'Neill was reluctant to call himself a historian.

"But he was," said John FitzGerald, a St. John's-based historian who worked with O'Neill several times over the years. "He wasn't an academic, but he could his own."

FitzGerald described O'Neill as being generous and helpful to others.

"He would always be willing to lay his hand on a document or file, and more than happy to share it," said FitzGerald. "He was always very kind and very helpful."

FitzGerald said O'Neill's books will be consulted for years to come.

Roberts agreed.

"I think it will stand," Roberts said of The Oldest City. "It's a magnificent piece of work. It's thoroughly researched ... and he wrote well. He had the facility to put words together. It will be around for a long, long time."

O'Neill earned many accolades through his lifetime, having been named to the Order of Canada and the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador. He also received the Freedom of the City from St. John's.

Roberts, though, said O'Neill was always modest. "He was utterly unassuming."