Shed Talk on July 25 at the Shed.
(our thanks to DesP for this summary)
Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll enlivened the Shed talk on July 25 by retired international journalist and TV producer Michael Beatty.
Over 40 years, Beatty’s colourful career saw him working in Canada and England before posts in Australia with the ABC and the commercial channels 7, 9 and 10.
Beatty, the son of the late Canadian-born actor Robert Beatty, recalled meeting the Beatles drummer Ringo Starr with his father in London. Michael had earlier covered The Rolling Stones on tour in the United States.
Another music icon, the late Olivia Newton-John, was a colleague when Mike worked on a nature series for Australian TV.
His stories of dangerous encounters with rock’n’roll musicians in London and Berlin, drugs (enter Cary Grant at the Savoy), and wild animals kept the Shed members entertained.
He also recalled working covering two (failed) Royal weddings, and having been stabbed at race riots in London’s suburb of Brixton.
For the sex stories, he apologised, you will have to turn to the pages of his recently published memoir, Off the Beatty Track.
These days Gap-resident Beatty is senior media officer and community advisor for the RSPCA, and he focussed on the care the organisation takes to treat native and abused animals.
His advice on feeding wild birds – Don’t.
