Balwyn High School 1957 to 1962 Reunion
  • Welcome
  • About our 50 year reunion
  • FEEDBACK on Get-together 27 October 2012
  • Photos from 2012 Reunion Dinner
  • Lost and Found
  • Vale
  • Students' Stories: What have you been doing for the past 50 years?"
    • Andy Blunden
    • Anne Hawker (Jubb)
    • Brian Stagoll
    • Diane Kerr (Davidson)
    • David Slater and Dorothy Fergusson
    • Carol Poon
    • Dorothy Vietz (Gibson)
    • Gerd Kratzer
    • Gisela Olbrich
    • Greer Larsson (Allica)
    • Ian Priestly
    • Ian Stavely
    • John Sinclair
    • John Willis
    • Kath Semmel (McKay)
    • Lindsay Cook
    • Michael Alston
    • Otto Rehak
    • Pam Heath
    • Paul Barnard
    • Peter Barter
    • Peter Thomas
    • Peter Winford
    • Phyl Coath
    • Ray Walker
    • Robyn Dalziel
    • Roger Schnagl
    • Sue Foster (Jones)
    • Sylvia Garnham (Geddes)
    • Tim Green
    • Val Brooks (Bennett)
    • Warren Pill
  • A 1962 Teacher's Story
  • Photos and Memories of our time at BHS 1957 to 1962
    • Personal reminiscences >
      • Brian Stagoll Memories
      • Gerd Kratzer
      • Kath Semmel (McKay)
      • Lindsay Cook Memories
      • Michael Alston
      • Paul Barnard
      • Peter Barter - Nostalgic Memories
      • Peter Thomas reflections on BHS
      • Sylvia Garnham (Geddes)
      • Val Brooks (Bennett)
    • 1957 Group photos
    • 1958 Group Photos
    • 1959 Group photos
    • 1960 Group Photos
    • 1961 Group Photos
    • 1962 Group photos
    • 1963 Group Photo
    • 'Feeder' Primary Schools
    • Biology Field Trip
    • Broken Hill and Canberra Excursions 1961 and 1962
    • School Social May 1962
    • 1962 teachers
    • The Voice of the Three Per Cent
    • A student debate
    • Speech Night 1962 program
  • 1962 School Statistics
  • 'Organising mob' Contacts
  • Share your thoughts and comments Blog
  • Forum
  • 14 July 2013 gathering
  • 16 August 2014 Gathering
  • 11 November 2017 Gathering
  • 10 November 2018 Gathering

Picture
John in Istanbul

John Sinclair

I was actually a ring-in at the 2012 reunion, having matriculated in 1961, but I had heard about it from Doug Beattie, and was also still in touch with Kath McKay (née Semmel), having been a schoolfriend of her late brother Ian, so invited myself along.  We all used to go out to jazz dances on the weekends, dangerously crammed into a pre-war car driven by an older friend – remember Q-Club, Jazz Hut, etc.?  I was very much into folk, trad jazz and blues then.  In fact, many years later, another alumna of BHS, Liz Aird, dubbed me ‘the biggest jazzer in Balwyn High’, a badge I wear with pride.  I do still love the blues. 

Because I had dropped French at Leaving, I wasn’t eligible to do Arts at the University of Melbourne, so went instead to Monash, then just a sprinkling of buildings in muddy pasture, much as Balwyn High had begun.  Actually, I remember watching BHS being built from the playground of North Balwyn Primary School, where I had started off as a foundation student in 1950, another muddy initiation.  1962 was only Monash’s second intake, and the small number of students (a total fewer than BHS at the time) made for a unique university experience and excellent esprit de corps – I still meet with many of the colourful characters who were my peers in that era at occasional reunions we have at the Notting Hill Hotel, where I mis-spent a good part of my youth. 

Accordingly, I graduated with a pretty ordinary BA, and being bonded to the Education Department, then did a Dip Ed, and went out teaching in technical schools.  But soon after, having discovered I had a true academic interest in Sociology, I enrolled in an MA part-time at La Trobe, and never looked back.  I went on to complete a PhD there, and as much to my surprise as anyone else’s, ultimately ended up as a university professor. 

I spent most of my career at Victoria University, the former Footscray Institute of Technology, but after many years was awarded a research fellowship that took me to the University of Melbourne, in 2005.  I am since retired, but still professionally active with research grants and publication contracts. 

Along the way, I have been married three times, and been father to two gorgeous daughters, the elder of whom has brought into the world my golden grandson.  I stay fit, I sail and scuba dive, and travel at every opportunity – eventually, I have this work-life balance thing worked out.  It takes a while.  


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