Ed
Heskett
1971-1973
Email: edhesk@optusnet.com.au
Hello!
What an astonishing find this site is. Until now my time at RSP has seemed like a slowly fading photograph, and I had thought never to see these sights and hear these names again.
I was in forms 1, 2 and 3 in 1971-73, leaving late June that
year. Those years are remembered most fondly, yet they were not my best years.
I had trouble fitting in, making friends and was crippled by self-consciousness.
I remember with great affection those few people who were my friends, those
who endured my moods and temper until, in 1973, it was like a door opened
and the world shone bright. Then I allowed the true beauty and intensity of
that experience to make its mark. I have never been back, but the people and
places of my memory stay with me, even as their names and shapes gradually
fade in the slow steady slide towards dementia (slight exaggeration - not
quite 50 yet).
If you don't know her but want a truly haunting evocation of the Penang experience,
I recommend the page of Narelie Fletcher, whose words are far more eloquent
than any I could muster.
I am living in Melbourne, as I have since we returned to Oz in 1973. My parents
continued to live the Air Force gypsy lifestyle, with several more postings
around NSW and VIC, but I told them to shove it at 17 and stayed put. I finished
high school in Broadmeadows (no small feat in the 70s) and went on to become
a Primary Teacher. After six months at Whittlesea PS I was sent to Epping
PS in 1982, and have never left. Probably the impact of the instability of
Air Force life. I have specialised in senior grades, ages 10-12, and this
year I am the school's Welfare Officer.
I was married for many years and have two children, Kate, who has just finished
Honours in Creative Arts at Melbourne Uni, and Andrew, who is 18, just finished
year 12. I am an amateur musician, teaching and playing guitar, bass, keyboards,
drums and voice. One day I hope to master one of them. I have played in various
bands around Melbourne, oddly being Christine McVie's hands and Lindsay Buckingham's
voice in "Rumours", a Fleetwood Mac tribute show. Currently I play
bass/vocal with FLOB, aka The Fat, Lazy, Old Bastards. We play almost twice
a year. Funnily enough, FLOB plays mostly 70s stuff with a bit of the 90s
and recent material as well. Pretty much the stuff I was listening to in Penang!
RRB ROCKS!!! Please note: we do not play anything from the "Decade of
Shame." (That's the 80s)
Other than playing longhair rock, I enjoy riding my old suzuki, eating out,
going to concerts, hanging out with my kids (My mum says I'm cool - Millhouse
Van Houten), watching TV (Simpsons obviously) and talking on the phone.
I would love to hear from anyone who remembers me, hopefully someone might,
despite my shyness at that time.
I got over it, can you tell?