Last Saturday (16/11} was my 80th birthday. This is not an event that happens too often so I decided to have a party in the Main Dining Room at my club, the Union University & Schools Club. I looked back over my life since coming to Australia in October 1973 and came up with inviting as many people as I could to a to 3-course dinner preceded by champagne and oysters.
I invited some 150 people and there 85 acceptance leading me to conclude that about half the people I knew were free-loaders like myself.
First here is the photo of the current family at the party.
Moving left to right there is Craig Collie, husband of our younger daughter Laura who is on his left. Next is her mother, Vivienne and then me. To my left his my sister Wendy who flew in from San Diego. To her left is out elder daughter, Louisa, and to her left is her husband, Tom McCann. Tom’s mother, Dierdre, kindly flew down to Melbourne to babysit her three grandchildren. ,
I opened with a speech that was followed by another given by my two daughters. The feed back has been excellent and everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves.
I have never received so many cards for a birthday. Here is selection of some of the better ones.
I also received a poem about me by Rhys Goodey. This is not a common occurrence and I repeat it in full.
Christopher Golis at Eighty
Every so often one meets a man
Who embodies the age in which we shared and began;
Far from filling our minds with contagious doubt and
dejection,
guilt and self flagellation, he says, “Enjoy yourself, celebrate-
You go round once, don’t leave it too late!”
His truth sticks out like a moment of kindness in a carpark or
a troop ship,
Like a lantern in a wintry Norse pine forest, or an orange golf
ball in the rough
Add a sharp wit and intelligence, a sophisticated salesmanship
So subtle it seduces you like a fine Burgundy, with excellent
wine there is no bluff!
High in fruit, structure and EQ; furthermore do we see , with
our mouths agape
your skill to organise groups of the donkey, mongoose, and
chattering ape
commonly known as committees, to call them to order and get
them to act
for the betterment of the whole society,
such chairmen are rare, rarer than dons or journalists or that
sodality
of seekers for high office.
Chris, you are all of the leadership that stands out remarkably
as
this.
May you enjoy, as the Romans said, “Ad Multos Annos”, may
your many days be filled with the laughter you so
freely share,
the hospitality that is your trademark , the generosity of your
time, may travel (written reports as always please!) and
family, delight you, where’ere
you wander, as ever they have done,
on the shore at Mosman or the Mediterranean sun .
©Maxwell Rhys James Goodey MA LLM Cantab 2024
Rhys runs an e-wine store, Ark Wine Agencies.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhys-goodey-8b9b6518/?originalSubdomain=au
As a customer I can attest to his excellent taste in wine.