Still learning at 91
At 91, John Brooking still maintains a busy social life, attending Council’s Men’s breakfast on Mondays, regular monthly Gents Day Out trips and is a member of the Burnside Writers’ Group. He is also learning Italian! “I have a lot of hobbies and it keeps my brain active”, he says. John and his wife are residents at Pineview Village and love the facilities that Burnside offers. “We use the Library constantly as I am a big reader. I love the friendliness of the staff at the Library, on the desk and at the Men’s activities.” John and his wife recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. “I am little unsteady on my feet these days,” he says, “But I still get out and about, catching the bus or a taxi”. When asked if he planned to take on any more hobbies, John says “I don’t really have space for any more activities.” But he always makes time for his three daughters and four grandchildren.
We asked John about his career and he shared some highlights with us.
At the age of 14 John got his first job at Melbourne radio station 3DB. “I started as an office boy and two months later joined 3DB’s Advertising Department, as a copywriter”. His writing was so good that he also wrote comedy programs and serials. Occasionally he would go on air as a stand-in. In June 1945 John was handed a piece of paper and told “Read this on air.” It was the announcement of the end of World War II. “I was 17 and it was a joyous time after such turmoil”. In 1954 John worked as a freelance in Sydney, enhancing his writing skills and co-writing “The Cadbury Show” and other scripts for comedians.
“I’ve had several careers really,” John says. “The first in radio in Melbourne and Sydney, then as a university lecturer in Social Work and finally as Superintendent of the Child & Family Treatment Centre, a division of the Department of Psychiatry in the (then) named Children’s Hospital, Adelaide.”
In 1960 John had started at Melbourne University and completed a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma of Social Studies (before later obtaining a post graduate Diploma of Education at Adelaide University). After a spell as a classification officer at Pentridge Prison, he worked as a social worker with families involved with interpersonal problems, foster care issues and child abuse. He also trained voluntary probation officers and students in field work placements.
In 1968 John and his wife moved their young family to Adelaide where he took up the role of Lecturer in Social Work at the (then South Australian Institute of Technology). “I was very interested in psychology and family therapy. At the Child and Family Centre, my staff consisted of an administrative assistant, two social workers, a psychiatric nurse, a psychologist and teachers and teacher aides seconded from the Education Department. We explored various approaches to therapy, working with disturbed children and family groups.”
In 1975 John had received a scholarship enabling him to travel to the USA and spent several months working in and studying mental health services from California to New York.
Retiring in his 50s (“I had worked for a long time”) John and his wife moved to Clare for a few years but then moved back to the city where he was a volunteer guide for 20 years at the Art Gallery of S.A.
