Broadcaster revisits highs, lows of his life
AUTHOR: John Laws PUBLISHER: New Holland RRP: $32.99
REVIEWER: Mary Ann Elliott
JOHN Laws is a household name, acknowledged as the greatest radio broadcaster Australia has produced. He has graced the airwaves for more than six decades and is still going strong in his 80s.
His memoir is as outspoken as the man himself. Most listeners who have heard him on talkback radio, interviewing famous figures and his close interactions with politicians must wonder what Laws is really like.
Despite earlier biographies (the last in 2006), here he shares a more personal side of his story; saying, “Well .... you wanted to know”.
Laws revisits the highs and lows of his life, grateful that at his age, he is still doing what he loves.
John Laws’ listeners are Australia, Prime Minister Bob Hawke once said.
Away from the golden mike and the tabloids, here is Laws in the raw, from a Depression-era kid evacuated to Sydney from New Guinea during the Second World War, struggling with polio as a child and again as an adult, marrying his teenage sweetheart of 40 years, to rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous and many other encounters of the close kind.
A self-made man, he has gone from a turbulent childhood, losing his father at 15, working as a jackeroo, and at age 18, taking a quantum leap into the world of radio, long before television and the internet.
With a voice that would “curl a frangipani”, distinctive voiceovers for advertisements, instinctively perfect timing and acerbic wit, Laws was not only a gifted broadcaster but also found time to write poetry, record albums and act on stage and screen.
His interviews with politicians are legendary, often finding himself at the centre of heated debate but earning respect for his sometimes brutally honest opinions.
In his book Laws airs his candid views on a range of subjects; immigration, discrimination, political power, the monarchy and young people. Known for his irreverence, he shows the sensitive side of himself in poignant poems that reflect affecting moments in a tumultuous life.
His memoir is as outspoken as the man himself.