Ken McGregor

 
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Niche business editor, married to 10 pound POM, Jan (ex London), for 30 years, three sons including an Anglican Minister, a police constable and an apprentice chef. No qualifications after NSBHS, started as copy boy, Sydney Morning Herald, cadet and then graded journo, 1991 -96. Then four years assistant editor, Pacific Islands Monthly, travelling on copra ships, small planes, Easter Island to Guam, seeing South Seas now passed. Worked passage across Pacific on Columbus Line freighters peeling spuds, cleaning engine rooms, jumped ship in Tarawa, Gilbert Islands and sojourned for nine months outer islands, Gilberts, Ellice. Then worked for Los Angeles Times, assigned as one of three-person team to track down Howard Hughes, which meant extensive travel Canada, Texas, Caribbean, Mexico. Delivered car across US to Louisville, Kentucky, but car-jacked, hospitalised, gaoled -- greyhound bus NY, Icelandic Airways to London. Feature writer Daily Tele, London. Freelanced for P&O into West Africa (Senegal-Dakar). Returned Australia, short stint covering politics (Bob Askin, etc) with The Australian, then joined Australian Financial Review for 12 years covering IT and overseas country surveys, further travel. Mid 1980s joined Robert Holmes a' Court, in Perth, Bell Group, in charge of media acquisitions, travel US and UK. Returned Sydney late 1980s, RHAC dies. Last 10 years. specialist niche biz areas -- food, packaging, logistics, international trade. Hobbies: collecting old books (very exciting, l 9th, 18th century), walking, jogging, swimming year round beach rock pools, animals, drinking, running luncheon clubs (Australasian Pioneers), etc.

Master of trivia, good at very little and really sorry not to be in action 21 October. Incidentally, do any NSBHers remember Bill Bailey or Mick Noonan - great characters and of course they also "did time" but not fortunately in Louisville! Should any others not be able to make 21 October, I'd like to suggest a 'follow-up bash' towards Xmas before the Australian Pioneers, its artefacts, history and paintings disappear with 61 York Street being sold 30 October which will be the end of a real era! We have de Groot's sliced ribbons from the Bridge opening in 1932 and the only copy left world-wide of the original drawings of a certain Yorkshire collier before it was revamped and named HMS Endeavour in the 1770s.