GIANTS OF THE NORTHERN MEDIA JUNGLE

 While mighty oaks  from  tiny   acorns  grow  ,  whopper  trees connected with  a  colourful  chapter  in  Darwin's  publishing   history are  reaching for the   heavens  .

Recent    photograph of  Sandra Byrnes  at  Arnhem Nursery, Humpty Doo , with a  massive  ficus,  which  she placed  as  a  small  potplant  in  the  boisterious  office  of the   independent  newspaper , the   Darwin Star , which   challenged   the  Murdoch  owned   Northern  Territory News .

   One  of  the editors of the paper,  the late  Peter Blake ,  who had a green thumb of sorts  ,  gave Sandra    a  small  tree   he  had started growing in  a container  before  he  departed for New York ,  and  it  is  also in the nursery , having  grown ,above,  considerably.

By   Peter  Simon 

The  business  first began as  a  printery and   after Cyclone Tracy  started   the Darwin Star  , named after the  blood and guts tabloid , Hong Kong  Star , on  which  Blake  had  worked . 

 

 There is an unusual   memorial to Sandra's late husband, Kerry , at the nursery. His   many important   tasks at  the newspaper  included   removing  the  frog  , named  George , from the  ladies   toilet  who  made  sitters scream.   George   also  had  a  gourmet  food  column named after  him .

Kerry's memorial ends with a strong message  : "Plant trees, just replace what  you  cut  down  shitheads!"

 Sandra  recalled some of  the  newspaper   days  when I  visited  Darwin   earlier  this year . She still has the   the first  framed   edition of   the paper  in  her  bedroom .

Stored away  are copies of the satirical   newspapers   Troppo and The Fannie  Bay  Whisper.

They were   produced   by Peter  BLake  and  included  nude  photos from Sydney's King Cross Whisper  which took the nation by storm, co-founded by Pete's brother,  Terry,  and  Jim  Ramsay  ,the  latter  arriving in Darwin while on a "Murdoch  leper list " for having written an article upsetting Australia's international golfing champion, Peter Thompson .  

It was  sad  to learn  that  one of  the many talented  employees at the Darwin Star ,  American  Toni Gragg ,nee Kelly , is not   in the best of  health and in  hospital .   She  was  said  to  have been  the  daughter of a  high ranking   naval  officer and  had  been   employed  in  US Navy   public relations , at Guantanamo  Bay  during  the  Cuban  missile  crisis . 

While she may  have  felt tense  during  the Cuban crisis,  it  would not have been as  threatening  as   the  time  she  was  a  passenger in a  light aircraft  on a special  trip organised by Kerry Byrnes in  which the  pilot anxiously  tapped the dashboard  gauges  , found  he  was  very   low  on  fuel . So low, that  we  landed  in   Darwin , an  alarm ringing  within the plane ,   with   fire   engines   running   alongside .