The preceding Dymocks Literary Lunch and the current one I am writing about, have a striking thing in common – both Thomas Keneally and Dick Smith are listed by the National Trust as ‘National ‘Living Treasures’.
Dick Smith’s early childhood was spent in the leafy suburb of Roseville. By his own account he was academically ungifted. As an aside he told the mainly grey-haired audience ‘don’t worry if your grandkids are doing badly at school. Look out how I turned out!’.
The one thing that he was good at was fiddling with electronic components and at the age of 15 he built a primitive computer.
By his own account Dick Smith said that the making of him was when he met and married his wife of fifty two years Philippa (Pip), something he is also very proud of.
Together, with a working capital of $610, they opened their first shop in St Leonards. Selling electronic consumables and components, Dick Smith had made a successful business out of his hobby.
He was interviewed by acclaimed media broadcaster Ray Martin and the rapport between them was heartwarming, based on a genuine friendship. This was demonstrated by Ray Martin who was rung up by his friend who enquired about the Fred Hollows Foundation. At it so happened Ray Martin was Chair of the Foundation and extolled its virtues. On the spot Dick Smith wrote a cheque for $1.000,000 which saved the Foundation from financial ruin.
Dick Smith is renowned for his philanthropy and has given away tens of millions of dollars to various worthy charities. He stated that Australia had one hundred billionaires and of those only 15% were philanthropic. When he questioned some of his rich friends, they said they donated anonymously. He went back to various charities and not one had received a large bequest anonymously!
A successful entrepreneur takes risks and Dick Smith took this further by undertaking physical risks.
He was the first man to circumnavigate the globe in a helicopter and became the first man to circumnavigate the Arctic and Antarctic circles, landing at both the North and South Poles.
Everytime he picks up his globe of the world, Pip would roll her eyes as she saw that her husband was contemplating another daredevil adventure.
Leaving his helicopter on the ground, Dick Smith decided he would be the first person to cross Australia in a balloon. He did so flying from Carnarvon in Western Australia to a field near the Clarence River in New South Wales.
His mate John Singleton bet him $100,000 that he couldn’t balloon from New Zealand to Australia against the current prevailing winds. Naturally Dick Smith won the bet flying from the tip of New Zealand to Surfers Paradise by avoiding the prevailing easterly winds, keeping the balloon at a very low altitude. When Ray Martin asked him why he undertook these adventures, Dick Smith admitted that he loved the adrenaline rush, the sense of achievement, and further maintained that he had always taken responsible risks.
Dick Smith sold his brand to Woolworths who drew the franchise into over 380 stores which collapsed under its own weight.
In the meantime he started Australian Geographic, became a frustrated, short-lived Chairman of CASA, and sought to help Australian farmers by seeking to produce a range of products bearing his name. The latter venture did not succeed.
He firmly stated both in the Four Seasons Ballroom and in his memoir ‘My Adventurous Life’ that his daredevil days were well and truly over, despite being a youthful 76 year old.
Appropriately enough the last line of his book is, ‘it (life) has never been boring’.
Text and photos by Ben Apfelbaum
