Never Too Late For A Career Change

By Marcus Braid on November 10, 2015 in

As a Bondi local for over 40 years, it’s fair to say Lawrence Goodstone is well placed to write a book of short stories based around the area.

But that doesn’t do Mr Goodstone’s story any justice, and his own background makes for interesting reading itself.

“I hitchhiked overland to Australia from the UK in the mid 1960s, which included hitching through Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, which are places not cool for hitchhiking now,” Mr Goodstone said.

“In those early days I worked as a goldminer and crayfisherman in WA, did a stint as a labourer on the Snowy Mountains Scheme, before taking up my real job as a high school teacher.”

Following a couple of stints in an Israeli kibbutz, Mr Goodstone returned to Australia for a second time with an Australian wife, and went on to play a key role in organising the Sydney Olympic Games as a member of SOCOG.

Mr Goodstone’s colourful history has not stopped him pursuing a new career path at the age of 74, recently launching his first book, ‘What’s in a Name?’ The book was launched at Ariel Bookshop in Paddington by veteran Australian actor, director and broadcaster Lex Marinos.

“It’s a book of 20 short stories, and many of them are set in Bondi and the Eastern Suburbs,” Mr Goodstone said. “They are all character centred and each character is represented in a photo on the cover. Interestingly enough, many of the people who posed for the images are Eastern Suburbs based.”

The book has been taken up by many local independent bookshops in the Eastern Suburbs, including Berkelouw bookstores in Paddington and Rose Bay, Gertrude and Alice in Bondi, and Ariel Bookshop in Paddington. Eight municipal libraries – including Waverley, Woollahra and Randwick – now have it in their collections.

“My wife is a schoolteacher, having taught in many Eastern Suburbs schools, and both my now adult children were raised in Bondi,” Mr Goodstone said.

“There’s heaps more I could bore you with but it’s been a life well lived. Now retired with time to write, that’s where I’m at.”