I first met Gary in 1970. He was then a middle level manager at John Martin and Co. in South Australia. John Martin’s was then a large retail organisation that had its principal office in Rundle Street, Adelaide, as well as three regional suburban stores. Gary was my boss.

Over time Gary and I became close friends and our respective families got along well with each other. Gary has been blessed with a very colourful and effervescent personality, that remains humorous and all embracing.  By this I mean that Gary has a very open and friendly personality, and somehow he seems to have had the knack of naturally attracting all manner of people towards himself. During his lifetime, Gary has assisted hundreds of people in putting their lives back in order, and he has also been a staunch and loyal member of the Roman Catholic Church in South Australia.

Gary also enjoys being part of the Australian political landscape, and he has had a close working relationship with Labor Prime Ministers Keating and Gillard. It is my opinion that, over many years, my friend Gary has played a significant role in the maintenance of Labor party unity and success in South Australia. He will be sadly missed when he is compelled to withdraw from the hustle and bustle of South Australian politics. Gary’s political stance tends to be left of centre. Gary is also my Godfather.

Fred and I worked in a retail store

I first met Fred around 1971. We worked together at a large regional retail store in the suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. We regularly ate lunch together and over time we began to socialize with each other; this continued even after we both left the company. During this period we got to know quite a bit about each other, including our respective life values, hopes and life-long aspirations. However, more importantly than this, we shared our views about there being the possibility of a bigger picture pertaining to reality. In other words, the meaning of all things and what life is all about.

I entered university as a mature age student and Fred did similarly around two years later. We saw very little of each other from that period onwards as our lives went in different directions because of our respective marriages. I had a young family and  Fred was determined to reach the pinnacle of his academic career. I had always felt that Fred was highly intelligent, and I believe that his Catholic upbringing played a large part in his progress. His impeccable sense of honesty and dedication to any task  set him apart from most others. Fred completed a Ph. D. in Biology and later IT studies. As far as I know he now works for a large interstate bureaucracy

The reason I created this blog is because one day around 2000 I received a note from Fred suggesting we get together to once again chat about all things between birth and death. We did eventually meet but our busy life styles at the time were not conducive to meaningfully connecting in the way I had hoped it would. It was apparent to me that our educational differences also probably played a part in this failure to communicate.

Because Fred and I are both living around the fringes of permanent retirement. I will periodically insert material into this blog that I feel may be of interest to him with the hope we may one day resume old times chatter about all things between birth, death and perhaps more speculatively, even beyond that.