About five years ago I quit the hospitality rat race as a means of supporting my freelancing, freewheeling arts habit and, at the suggestion of a friend and colleague, threw myself into a rather unusual and enriching line of ‘work’ – for want of a better word. I started to sing for the oldies.

Suddenly my anachronistic oddities became an asset; my vintage record collection, my 1940s aesthetic, my tendency to seek out people three times my age and my obscene dependence on Earl Grey tea.

This blog is something of a biographical collage; a collection of stories, songs, memories and portraits, and a modest attempt to celebrate the unforgettable folks whom I have met along the way. Some have been heartbreakers while others have been wickedly funny but an hour in their company has never failed to humble and inspire. 

My hope is that this project might kick start some kind of intergenerational conversation      between family members and strangers alike; that readers might be encouraged to stop and chat with seniors on the tram, in line at the Medicare office and perhaps even drop into their local aged-care residence for a cuppa and a gasbag – where a veritable Aladdin’s cave of insight and story awaits.

Please feel free to add to this haphazard collection; post stories of your own, share quirks and memories of your parents and grandparents, tell us something unique about your childhood or share a tune that reminds you of a time…