The Art of Living a Life ─ Andrew Denton's eulogy to John Clarke, Melbourne Town Hall, 2017
Writer, comedian, satirist John Clarke was a legend in his native New Zealand and his adopted Australia. He came to prominence with his character Fred Dagg, but was also the creator of farnarkling, 'The Games', and the Clarke and Dawe satirical political interviews.
John Clarke died on 9 April 2017 while hiking in the Grampians. On 2 July that year, there was 'A Celebration of John Clarke' at the Melbourne Town Hall, hosted by The Wheeler Centre and the Clarke family. There were numerous speakers, and the full audio of the event is online and outstanding.
One of the speakers was Andrew Denton, a friend of Clarke's and a legend of Australian television himself, as the host of Enough Rope.
This episode features Andrew Denton's eulogy on that amazing night, as well as a funny, emotional interview with Denton on the impact Clarke had one his life and career. Denton talks about the wisdom of his mentor and friend, particularly with respect to 'the art of living a life'.
To read a transcript of Andrew speech, visit Speakola.
To listen to the speech, listen to the podcast or visit the Wheeler Centre site.
You can Andrew Denton's end of life law reform movement, Go Gentle Australia here. The National Press Club speech referred to in the episode is this one.
The Clarke family were incredibly supportive with respect to this episode. My sincere thanks to Helen, Lorin and Lucia, and you can support John's chosen charity Trust for Nature here. You can also buy his recording and books at his website, including the clips used with permission in the episode.
If you'd like to donate to support Speakola in both its website and podcast form, Tony would appreciate any help in these covid times!
Tony's '1989 The Great Grand Final' is available online or directly from Tony, signed as a Fathers Day gift. His other books are available too if you felt like supporting him in lockdown.
Episode supported by GreenSkin™ and PurpleSkin™ avocados at http://lovemyavocados.com.au.
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