PETER BLAKE'S GREEN , MAGIC FINGERS

 Still   growing  with  gusto, like the person who first kicked it off in a small pot,  is this Banyan    at   Arnhem Nursery , Humpty Doo , Darwin, It is  an  unmarked memorial  to    ace  reporter ,skilled layout subeditor , master of  zany headings for  articles , keen fisherman  and   great  raconteur ,  the  late   Peter  Blake , who  died  in   America .

His   distinguished career  included  working   for  the   ABC , a spell in Hong Kong ,   and  during  time in Darwin  at the Northern Terrirory News  with the crusading editor  Jim Bowditch,  and  on the independent    Darwin Star ; he also played  a  creative  part in  the  production of  two   spoofy  whimsical  publications, Troppo and  Fannie Bay Whisper, and  fielded  as  a bookie at the Fannie Bay  Races, below

Because of his skill at writing   racy, colourful stories, he was likened to American  Damon Runyon who wrote Guys and Dolls, about the mobsters, chorus girls, gamblers  and racetrack hustlers of Broadway. In fact, Pete , at times, used Runyoneque  expressions  in  copy  and   speech.   

Pete  also  played  a large part  in  in  the  fabulous  success  of   Sydney's  outrageous   King's Cross Whisper satirical  publication.

He  liked  growing plants in  pots and   the  Banyan was  left behind in Darwin when  he took off  for America  where  he  worked  on the New York Post and went  on  fishing  trips.