I was born in Tasmania in the late forties I and educated in six different schools, as my family travelled from place to place across NSW. I am thankful to my parents, who were loving, concerned and supportive, and the many teachers and adults who have been significant persons during my life. As a boy I loved visiting my grandparents' farm at Eastwood, and exploring an old barn in which my grandfather operated antiquated farm machinery used to grind corn and other crops into animal feed. The machinery seemed to come from another age, perhaps relics from the industrial revolution.
My education was largely based in public schools which at times were very ‘public’. By the third year, my teacher was quite despairing of my reading skills so I took responsibility for my own learning as I taught myself how to read using the classic 'Robinson Crusoe' and stories from the Bible. When my mother was ill in hospital, the despair I felt was mirrored in my results coming third last in a class of 57. By the time I was in secondary school things took a turn for the better, topping the class a number of times, coming first in Yr 9 in Intermediate Maths 1, first in Fifth Year Physics together with many other encouraging results throughout my high school years. Before entering High School, the Primary Principal had suggested I take up a trade at Technical College, and there was nothing wrong with such a proposition. But how well did they really know me when I achieved the highest assessment level during the doctoral thesis examination process! Importantly, I have always acknowledged Divine guidance, intervention and fortitude during my life, study and times of indecision. Expectations were such that I should become an electrical engineer, and having done the appropriate subjects I could very well have pursued this career path or medicine perhaps. Then quite unexpectedly, a career in teaching came left of centre which impacted every aspect of my life, from where I worked and lived, my social networks and even the person to whom I would be married. For me, teaching became a very rich and rewarding occupation, and while I could have continued teaching well into older age, as many of my colleagues have, I finished at the peak of my career ‘on a high’.
Retirement has had its own rewards as my wife and I have striven to serve the community in various ways. It's also allowed us time to do other things for which we had little time while still teaching. Violin making, violin performance and composition and lately, Art have been major pastimes. My study has continued completing the ThC through Moore Theological College and more recently, learning how to paint landscapes, seascapes and portraits through online resources such as Rod Moore Art School. Consequently, I have painted almost daily, to upskill my creativity, which I might add, first emerged at Teachers' College. With the passage of time, all this has inevitably lead to the use of IT and my discovery of the 'Bluethumb' platform which is a great site for the publication of artworks and the popularisation of Creative Arts within the Australian context and on the world stage.