Big boots to fill …

John is moving back to his home state of Victoria so this month’s Profile and Bottomline will be his last.

He will be sadly missed and after an involvement of nearly eight years producing insightful, entertaining and often controversial stories about the Gong he will leave a huge gap to be filled by a new, yet to be located, lead contributor.

John Bown, working on his columns in the Your Online Community office

Of course, right up until last September John contributed on a weekly basis but since the GFC forced us to do a ‘Women’s Weekly’ WollongongOnline has been distributed to our 9,500 B2B Opt-in subscribers on a monthly basis.

In the early days John was assisted by his very good mate, the late Barry Smith, (perhaps the Gong’s most famous photographer) another passionate supporter of the region.

John’s last word …

People really do make the world go round

It goes back to the mid-2002s, for that’s when this column made its debut, and I can say with all assuredness “people do make the world go round”.

From the beginning I have regularly met and talked with a wide range of people in the Illawarra and it has truly been a great experience.

Initially it was mainly men I interviewed for they seemed to be the “bright sparks” of leadership in our community but of later years women have gained the upper hand and they appear to have taken over where new ideas and accepting challenges are concerned.

Among the earliest interviews I did were well-known businessman Warwick Hansen, chemist Peter Abba, Danny and Sylvia Wilson who created the now world renowned dog training company “Bark Busters” (still going strong), a young Michael Bolt who was spreading his entertainment catering wings, restaurateur Nick Manias, i98 on-air presenter Maje, those behind the still popular Sky Dive The Beach business, and the irrepressible Harry Mitchell of our aerial patrol.

And, of course, there were our politicians Noreen Hay, Jennie George, Joanna Gash, Sharon Bird, Connie Fieravanti Wells, and Marianne Saliba.

Along the way I also sidetracked a little with interviews of Santa Claus, some witches and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

And among my real favourites was Jane’s Royalty Rooms high up at the back of scenic Helensburgh.

Thanks to everyone who gave me their time and willingly talked about themselves and what they were doing in life.

You’ve all made a real contribution to life in the Illawarra over the years and it was my pleasure to “tell the world” about it.