A bit about me...

I was born in Scotland and emigrated to Australia with my family in 1961. I have worked as an abalone packer, dishwasher and mail-sorter, but mainly as a journalist, specialising in not specialising. Since starting at The Age in Melbourne in 1978 I have written for publications ranging from The Sunday Times, London, to Time magazine and covered events as diverse as the first free elections in South Africa to a US Presidential campaign and four Olympic Games. Between 1995-1998 I was the New York-based correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers. Between 2006 and 2016 I was Editor of The Big Issue magazine, the national, independent publication sold by street vendors around Australia. I still do some things in the Big Issue world. I have published three novels, Breathing Underwater (1997), Burke’s Soldier (2003) and, now, a new one: Houdini Unbound (2024). These days I try to avoid meetings , walk the dog (Daisy), take photographs, embark on sundry projects and write when I have something to say. You can sometimes find things in Good Weekend magazine, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, and even The Law Institute Journal. Oh yes - I try to swim whenever possible. This website is essentially a place to publish some of my writing as well as photographs that might otherwise be unseen. Please feel free to contact me using the form below. I will almost certainly reply. Thanks for your interest.