DON BENTLEY slumped down in his armchair in front of the television set. He was in shock and at first Bentley’s wife looked at him in silence. After a few minutes, she said tentatively, quietly: ``Everything all right dear?’’ Bentley said nothing. He sipped at the glass of shiraz he had just poured, his eyes fixed on the television, watching a cricket match being beamed from England. ``So how did it go?’’ his wife said again. Don Bentley had just returned home, early, … [Read more...] about The end of an era
Old habits die hard
Don Bentley could not look at a keyboard without tasting the tarry, sweet tobacco of a Players Navy Cut on his lips, or feel the stinging sensation of blue tobacco smoke in the eyes. The smoke, the rat-tat-tat of the manual typewriter, the clattering of telex machines; it was a heady mix of the journalism of his generation. A journalist without a cigarette dangling from his or her lips, or a smoking fag in an overflowing ashtray, was missing a part of equipment as vital to … [Read more...] about Old habits die hard
No smoke without ire
NEWS could be as addictive as nicotine or alcohol or any other drug Simon Prince cared to mention. He was a news junkie and he didn’t care if everyone knew it. Prince, or “Princey” as he was known to his colleagues, worked as the chief sub-editor on the sports pages of the Townsville Express, a position that did not require news gathering abilities at all. However, Princey could still spot a news story when many of his colleagues with the title of “reporter” could not, and … [Read more...] about No smoke without ire
Born to rule
“Your round, Bentley,’’ Charles Carruthers proclaimed with his clipped, cultured accent in the main bar of the Red House. Carruthers was pulling rank again, letting Bentley know that he was born to rule, and born to be bought drinks. More often than not Don Bentley would oblige. Ace reporter John Gerard merely told Carruthers to get fucked. It was a lesson in the English social order that was not lost on an Australian backpacker journalist marking time on the Woking News … [Read more...] about Born to rule
Fleet Street of the sky
Bentley peered out of the windows of the bus taking him to work. The wire mesh covering the glass obscured his view but he knew he was in a danger zone. Bentley had lived with danger for a decade in Africa. Now he was living with danger on the streets of East London. It wasn’t so different really. In Africa he had exposed himself to risk as part of his job, and now the same thing was happening in the name of earning a crust. Bentley couldn’t see out of the windows of the … [Read more...] about Fleet Street of the sky