At times writing Know Your Local can be difficult. Trying to capture certain personalities, particularly with people that are quite outgoing, expressive and multilayered, can be really difficult to do with words and photos alone.
The other struggle is balancing the very personal and often, difficult, aspects of a person’s story when there is no anonymity for them in a small country town.
With a background in social work, I have a tendency to draw out information and emotion that interviewees are not necessarily expecting to express.
Feedback from people I have interviewed has varied vastly; some have been surprised with the information I have published, and others have felt necessary details have been excluded from their stories.
John falls into the latter category. After publishing his story, John and I met by chance while I was out walking with my sister and niece. John was busy working on a beautiful succulent garden, and I paused to say hi and ask him what he thought of his article.
He hesitated, and I felt immediate concern that I had written something he was unhappy with.
“It’s not a criticism, per se,” said John. “It just felt like… here’s John, who’s lived a happy life and he did these things, the end. I felt one-dimensional. There are other layers to my story and me as a person.”
And I immediately understood what he meant and agreed wholeheartedly. In our interview, John had opened up to me, he had laughed and cried and made himself completely vulnerable, which is not always an easy thing to do. And I had edited out the painful and difficult aspects of his life.
We’ve received so much positive feedback on John’s story; many readers know this amazing, flamboyant man from around town and were excited to hear more about his life.
If you are one of those people who has been fortunate enough to encounter John, you will know he is so incredibly full of life. He brings joy to those around him with his varied accents, his mannerisms and his larger-than-life personality.
He can make you laugh, but he can also bring a tear to your eye with his openness and vulnerability.
When John moved to Welshman’s Reef in 2004, he moved with his wife of 14 years, Janette, who was experiencing a health issue, which the couple were not aware of and was not diagnosed for years, but still impacted heavily on the pair.
After two years, Janette moved back to Melbourne, and John experienced a period of grief while also running the shop on his own for two years, looking after the house and planning the next steps after settlement. After the sale of the Welshman’s Reef home, John bought a small house in Maldon, which he lovingly renovated.
When the couple moved to the area, they brought with them a Bedlington Terrier called Milo, and a Kelplie-Red Heeler Cross called Ginger, who was post a cancer operation when the couple took her in.
They also had two Cornish Rex cats: Saba and Zorro (the latter got his name because he had hair that was basically like his skin, and the hair under his nose was black and looked like a moustache). As time went by, the four pets all died.
Having originally moved up here with his wife and four pets, John now feels the loneliness that comes with living a solo life, particularly after the loss of Milo two years ago.
Said with flair and fabulousness, John says, “Put me in the classifieds under bitchings darling.”
This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 19 August 2022.
