It is pleasing to see that the Banyan tree first struck in a tiny container by the talented journalist, Peter Blake, in Darwin about 40 years ago , is now an impressive clump at Arnhem Nursery , Humpty Doo . It is a situation similar to the saying from little acorns , mighty oaks grow .
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| Bookie Blake |
The tree was inspected early in the new year when Little Darwin called at the nursery , run by Sandra and Kerry Byrnes , and found Kerry working on the replacement for the control box which runs the irrigation system , blown up during a violent electrical storm .
Over the years, all of us have swapped many yarns about jovial joker Peter Blake, who also fielded as a bookie at Darwin's Fannie Bay Racecourse. He's the thickset, going baldy bloke in the above photo finish.
A veteran reporter who worked in several parts of Australia , Hong Kong and on the New York Post , he was a skilled sub editor and layout man , a gambler who liked Texas poker , enjoyed growing plants in a variety of containers , and loved fishing . Kerry Byrnes recalled going on an early morning fishing trip with Peter to Beatrice Hill ; they sat waiting for the sun to come up, eating cornbeef and mayonnaise and cornbeef and pickle sandwiches , made by Blake , the pickle overly vinegary , according to Kerry .
Keen to go , Peter jumped out of the car in the gloom , waded into an area which , today , Kerry says, is alive with crocodiles and poisonous snakes . The denizens therein would now regard you as a tasty cornbeef sandwich .
From the Blake family newspaper dynasty, Peter was deeply involved in the mad, mad , mad Kings Cross Whisper publication, started in Sydney, which made a fortune . They diversified into Fishing News , two shops which sold fishing gear , a large mail order business which sold "marital aids " and pressed bawdy records with the help of a Queensland government fund!
GOING TROPPO
Renowned for putting zany headings on stories and composing equally hilarious yarns, Peter at times using expressions from Damon Runyon's Guys and Dolls characters in the cavalcade of entertaining stories his magic fingers produced . His body would shake with suppressed mirth as he pounded out another great story .
GOING TROPPO
Renowned for putting zany headings on stories and composing equally hilarious yarns, Peter at times using expressions from Damon Runyon's Guys and Dolls characters in the cavalcade of entertaining stories his magic fingers produced . His body would shake with suppressed mirth as he pounded out another great story .
In Darwin, Peter Blake produced two satirical publications , the Fannie Bay Whisper and Troppo , in which some old photographs of topless girls from the Kings Cross Whisper were run .
A STAR IS BORN
When Sandra and Kerry Byrnes decided to start an independent newspaper in Darwin to challenge the Murdoch owned Northern Territory News , he suggested they should call it the Darwin Star , he having worked for the blood and guts Hong Kong Star , which they did .
Peter's all round newspaper skills at the Darwin Star shook up the Darwin media scene , the paper eventually bought by South Australian trucking magnate Alan Scott , who branched out into newspapers and television . Scott took on Murdoch and lost .
Peter took his green thumb to America, lost a bundle of dough at the racetrack soon after arrival , got involved with a community garden , went on ferry fishing safaris out of New York, enjoyed cruise ship trips down the Caribbean , engaging in poker sessions along the way , while his wife, Claire , a bookie's daughter, indulged herself in other shipboard entertainment and shopping .
He was out walking the day of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre , rushed to the New York Post office , against the tide of fleeing humanity and police instructions , and spent several hectic days working on the paper covering the momentous event.
A STAR IS BORN
When Sandra and Kerry Byrnes decided to start an independent newspaper in Darwin to challenge the Murdoch owned Northern Territory News , he suggested they should call it the Darwin Star , he having worked for the blood and guts Hong Kong Star , which they did .
Peter's all round newspaper skills at the Darwin Star shook up the Darwin media scene , the paper eventually bought by South Australian trucking magnate Alan Scott , who branched out into newspapers and television . Scott took on Murdoch and lost .
Peter took his green thumb to America, lost a bundle of dough at the racetrack soon after arrival , got involved with a community garden , went on ferry fishing safaris out of New York, enjoyed cruise ship trips down the Caribbean , engaging in poker sessions along the way , while his wife, Claire , a bookie's daughter, indulged herself in other shipboard entertainment and shopping .
He was out walking the day of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre , rushed to the New York Post office , against the tide of fleeing humanity and police instructions , and spent several hectic days working on the paper covering the momentous event.
