Editor, Amanda Ducker

Many of the people we feature in TasWeekend have one extremely valuable quality in common – a driving passion for what they do. There’s no faking it, but its ability to energise and lift both people and projects can be a joy to behold. Tasmanian novelist Amanda Lohrey, 67, has it in spades, along with a no-holds-barred style of conversation that delighted our writer Sally Glaetzer, who interviewed Amanda for our cover story (p8). So does high-altitude trekking guide Almas Khan (p14). And chef Daniel Garwood, 20, has it in abundance, too. The fact that Daniel, who is the inaugural winner of a Slow Food Hobart scholarship, is already on the radar of our veteran food reviewer Graeme Phillips (p24) is testament to this impressive young man’s hunger to learn and drive to excel. None of this has anything to do with perfection. It’s all about having a red-hot go – and that’s always worth celebrating. Happy Easter!