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Our Europe correspondent David Crowe, back in Australia visiting family in Nowra, heard that the longstanding owner of the Sturgiss Newsagency, Ronald Sturgiss, known as Bill, died a few weeks ago. His son, Greg, also runs the store. “It’s a good old-fashioned newsagent. You can get newspapers from up and down the South Coast, as well as the Italian and Chinese papers, and all the magazines. Staff greet customers by name when they come in. When said staff turned up to the funeral on May 11, they found that Bill had arranged for his coffin to be wrapped in newsprint. It was wrapped in The Sydney Morning Herald. A great way for a great newsagent to be delivered.”
That scoundrel, David Baird of Burradoo puts the freeboot in: “I thought an outward bounder (C8) was just a precocious cad.”
We’ve done plenty on street names (C8) of late, but in the interest of harmony we’re handing the baton to John Macdonald of Kings Langley: “A 1950s-developed part of Seven Hills has a series of interlocking roads that includes Beethoven Street, Sibelius Close, Mozart Street, Ravel Street, Strauss Place, Greig Place, Brahms Street and Chopin Street. No Bach. Maybe Johann Sebastian struck a wrong note with the council.”
“These lightweights carrying Bambinos and Baby Austins (C8) can’t hold a candle to the Dookie Agricultural College class of 1960,” asserts Dave Williams of Port Macquarie. “We had a Lancia tragic (Hi Paul), in our year, who made the mistake of bringing his enormously long, heavy, touring car to college. We placed it between two trees, with about an inch to spare. Nuff said.”
Looks like it wasn’t just the students, judging by this declaration from Daniel Low of Pymble: “Shout-out to the industrial arts staff at Wellington High School in the 1960s, who placed my late wife’s Mini neatly between two brick walls.”
“From experience, patrons in Melbourne routinely stand to allow others to pass to reach their seats whereas, in Sydney, they remain seated – and simply twist and turn,” writes Edward Loong of Milsons Point. “Just an observation, not a judgment. So, Coral Button (C8) should count her blessings for her ease of passage, and safe landing at the Hayes Theatre.”
Some sad news now, from Mary Holmes of Currumbin Waters (Qld): “RIP Simpson Minimax clothes dryer 1971-2026.” Not a dry eye in the house, we’re told.
Column8@smh.com.au
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