As a boy Bill had been lonely, growing up in a large boisterous family in rural New South Wales. Being the second youngest he was often outshone by the more athletic, the more academically inclined and the more loving of his siblings. He often felt overlooked and so craved attention from both his parents and anyone near enough to pay attention.
He constantly dreamed of leaving his familial home and making a name for himself in the city, "the further away from this shit hole the better" he often thought.
He was a dreamer!
Although relatively bright University was tougher than he thought. He had always been somewhat gifted as a writer and had a wonderful turn of phrase, everyone had said so but at University he was just one of the many and so had to apply himself far more than he had imagined, but due to his strong work ethic had graduated with honors and on the Dean's list.
What he'd always dreamed about was becoming a journalist and living a life close to the action. He got his first job at the Sydney Morning Herald as a cub reporter, however the big break came for Bill on January 18, 1977 when he was the first reporter on the scene at the Granville train disaster in Sydney's western suburbs.
As the "on the spot" reporter he reported live from the scene day and night during the rescue efforts and aftermath. His insightful and compassionate style of reporting coupled with his perseverance and doggedness received significant accolades from his peers and indeed the editor of the SMH.
His star was on the rise! However over the ensuing years he realized that he was a big fish in a little pond and decided that the best place to make a name for himself was London. Everyone in the newspaper game knew London was the epicenter of journalism especially now the cold war was winding down.
It was now or never he thought. With a sterling reference from his editor at the Sydney Morning Herald it only took a cursory interview to land a job with the Times. Bill wasn’t one to rest on his laurels and so set about making a name for himself much as he had in Australia. In fact, no story was too large or too small, he could be relied upon for something last minute and he would have moved heaven and earth to make the front page of the Times. His hunger was evident in everything that he did.
"I'm going to make them proud of me - one way or another" he often thought to himself.
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