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SOMETHING was in the air. The staff of the Chronicle in Davey Street couldn’t quite put their fingers on it, but something was definitely afoot. ``We’re speaking in bloody cliches,’’ said Don Bentley when the matter came up during the sub-editors’ dinner break. ``Cliches or no cliches,’’ said the sports editor, Peter Mirowski. ``It’s the winds of change, and they’re blowing up a storm.’’ The Chronicle had been trying to secure the services of a sports sub-editor for 18 … [Read more...] about The Chronicle’s dancing queen

ONCE a week when Don Bentley worked in Townsville, he would go on walk-about during his break. Bentley usually went home for dinner but on Wednesday nights he had a night off from this routine. On Wednesdays his wife took their young son to play roller hockey and this gave Bentley an opportunity to visit some of the many pubs that dotted the Townsville city centre, or its beach and port-side fringes. Bentley loved pubs and his favourite during his time in Townsville had … [Read more...] about The naked truth

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

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

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