Column 8
So, who are this column's inveter8 contributors? Allan Gibson, of Cherrybrook, who earlier this week suggested Eric Shackle, of Castle Hill, at 97, may have been C8's oldest contributor, says his first published item was in the mid '70s. "I reported the Australian flag on the GPO was flying at half mast."
Pam Doherty, of Gladesville, recalls getting an item published 27 years ago about her then five-year-old son, Mike, getting his first haircut. "How would you like it, Mike?" asked the barber. "Just like my dad's," said Mike, "with a hole on top."
Peter Riley, of Penrith, says his first item was published a decade earlier on July 4, 1980. How times have changed. "On page 2 there was a Dick Smith ad calling on everyone to send a telegram or telex to the Tasmanian premier to protest the proposed damming of the Franklin River."
John Fry, of Lillian Rock, can go back further. He recalls his carpet snake got a mention in 1979 when he took it to work. "That snake repaid me that evening by biting the hand that feeds it. I had it on the bench at work while eating a chicken drumstick. It struck at the drumstick and missed, biting my hand instead."
So many veteran contributors wrote in – Roger Anderson, of Dundas, Jan Carroll, of Potts Point, Doug Wormald, of Armidale, and Kersi Meher-Homji, of St Ives, to name a few. Thank you all for stirring the memories.
On to the weather (C8). Greg Rutter, of Musk in Victoria, reports seeing the first blowfly in the house while the frost was still thick on the ground. And Richard Stewart, of Pearl Beach, says the nursery at West Gosford is promoting "early summer tomatoes".
More plaudits for the post service. Penelope Donaldson says when she was living in New York in the 1990s her young daughters posted a letter addressed to 'Grandma, Illabo, NSW, Australia'. "Some clever local at the Illabo post office realised Alison Lehmann had a daughter in New York." Alan Smith, of Toowoomba, recalls Mark Twain received a letter addressed: Mark Twain, God Knows Where. "It found him after travelling halfway around the world. In his answer, he replied, 'He did.'"
Lastly, Andrew Thompson, of Dulwich Hill, says the renowned Dr Spooner was once a beadle in the Church of England. "He was often commended for minding his keys and pews."