Well known author, fisherman and general raconteur John ‘Stinker’ Clarke visited the Iluka Museum last week and was very impressed with what was on display and its presentation. John is a regular on the ABC and has a vast following at 5.30am every Saturday morning on ‘The Big Fish’ show which is statewide.
He has been writing a fishing and historical page in his local Newcastle paper for almost forty years and some listeners might remember his early days on Sydney radio with the late international footballer Noel Kelly.
He has written eleven books now including four historical ones as well as children’s stories like ‘Banjo the Bream’ which I gave to my grandson while we were both at Karura Bridge where Banjo was born.
His main reason for visiting us was not to share his innumerable stories but to get an insight into how to set up a museum for an area like his own backyard around Nelson Bay. I introduced him to our own author and coordinator Janet Hauser and President Christine Marshall. He swapped yarns with former trawlerman Sno Decker.
He and his lovely wife Ella, quaintly known as ‘aRoma’ (what a pun that is) enjoyed a cuppa down at Pensioners corner at the old ferry crossing on the edge of Iluka where the original access road began. From there they went to the Soldiers Memorial Hall which operates as our museum and includes the old movie projection room.
Stinker is a brilliant after dinner speaker and regales everyone about his days on the water in “Stinkpot” which is as famous as the Titanic in his home waters. As a trained teacher he was once told he should consider changing the tone of his voice. To me, as distinctive as it is, it conveys genuine warmth and sincerity.
He has fond memories of Iluka when as a ten-year-old he would come to Iluka every year for a week with his father while they lived on the Tweed. A generation or two before that, his grandfather worked as an engineer on the Middle Wall of the Clarence.
He is known to have the ear of relevant ministers and key public servants such is his credibility. He is an advisor to the regional NPWS as well as Marine Parks and recreational fishing groups. While speaking about the Clarence fishing, he thinks it has suffered for the fact that it is one of only three rivers in the state (Hawkesbury and Hunter the others) which allow trawlers on the river. Marine parks have shown to be very successful in maintaining the sustainability of fishing for the amateur.
He will be back again next year and may even come for Iluka’s sesquicentenary celebrations at the end of the year.
Col Hennessy