Sunday, August 27

I had a teacher at school called Fred Smith who was a bit eccentric.  He drove an old car (something like a Model A Ford) and was ostensibly in charge of the Wednesday afternoon Tennis program.  His involvement took the form of identifying where tennis could be played and allocating budding Rosewalls and Hoads to appropriate venues.  After the last lesson on Wednesday morning, we would grab our Bluebird racquets, catch a bus and head to our court of the week.

In all the time I went to tennis, Fred only came once to check that we were there.  No doubt, he had lots of venues to patrol, and maybe Brian and I had shown early signs of becoming responsible adults and didn't need close supervision. Whatever the reason, our Summer Wednesday afternoons were treasured.  In the winter, of course, it was Soccer and that was regarded as a real sport and teachers made sure we turned up and had our names ticked off.

I thought of that today when I came across a Richard Fidler conversation podcast with someone called Fred Smith: the Musical Diplomat.  His real name is Ian Campbell,Smith and he works for the Department of Foreign Affairs.  His work is interesting but his hobby is more so.

He plays guitar, sings and writes songs.  The first song he wrote was called The Ballad of Jose and Charmaine.  He envisaged them as a waiter and waitress in a small restaurant in Wollongong.  Even if you move to Tasmania you can't escape your past!