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GRAND YEARS.
Human interest and entertaining tales of yesteryear with respected journalist Frank Morris
15 April 24
Past Olympics! Snowy Baker – sporting champ who became a film star
The greatest sportsman in the world! After the 1908 Olympic Games, he became an international celebrity. His name is Reginald Leslie “Snowy” Baker and he is the greatest sportsman in the world. Baker proved his class in world competition as a champion boxer, footballer, swimmer, sculler, diver, gymnast and horseman. He won Australian ...
15 April 24
Flashback: The “king” of Australian rock is dead
“You had the feeling that he was writing his own parts.” There is a subtle similarity between the late American actor Humphrey Bogart and Australia’s “Mr Showbiz”, Johnny O’Keefe, who died suddenly in 1978 aged 43, of a massive heart attack in St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. When Bogart started on the road ...
20 March 24
Short Story: Lennie Lower was the Prince of storytellers!
I pride myself on my looks, said the Professor. Double trouble made its way into the conversation. “I’m not old,” Professor Gudgeon said. “I pride myself on my looks, so, there!” In one of his quirky essays (Arthur) Bryant opined that “one of the advantages of growing old is that one has ...
20 March 24
Flashback! Air New Zealand celebrates a huge milestone
What an entrance, what a journey In April 1940, a flying boat lifted off from Mechanics Bay in Auckland and nine hours later it touched down on the glass-like waters of Rose Bay. It was the airline’s first scheduled passenger service between New Zealand and the rest of the world 75 ...
06 March 24
Marilyn Monroe started life as a model and ended up a movie star
How Marilyn Monroe became a movie legend Marilyn teamed with cover photographers that would take America head on. They planned to go around America, taking pictures, and having a great time. Instantly, Marilyn knew she was on the right track to end up in movies. All the film directors and producers wanted the ...
06 March 24
‘Stand up’ comedy – “Fudd” fixes your board within thirty minutes!
<< Surfabout Magazine, 1962-1968. Remember when … The day it all happened The bombora episode happened when I was editor of Surfabout magazine in 1963. Surfabout was the only magazine to have the story. It was also my first sighting of Scott Dillon. He was definably brilliant. We did a spread called Bare Island ...
21 February 24
The Great Aussie Firsts — New Series. They did it ‘first’
Great Aussie Firsts - People who were credited with doing it ‘first’. Apart from the fact that they’re all Australians, the bulk of the population have never heard of them. Their achievements cannot be emulated. They did it first. The first Labor PM John Watson was not only Australia’s first Labor Prime ...
21 February 24
Charles Fey: ‘‘The Father’ of the pokies!
Australia first had poker machines a hundred years ago. They were declared illegal in 1921, 1930 and 1940s – but still existed. The trouble, though, this period spans the problem of addicted gamblers. The next time you’re at the club, pub or casino playing the poker machines, spare a thought for ...
12 February 24
Up in the Air: Another chance to solve the Amelia Earhart puzzle!
Is the mystery solved? A group of researchers have recently discovered some startling evidence that the aircraft Amelia Earhart and her partner, Fred Noonan, the navigator, were flying, has been found at the bottom of the of the sea between Lae and Howland Island. The remains of the aircraft have to be ...
