A Fortunate Life

THE BEATLES JUDY GARLAND JEAN SHRIMPTON

DUDLEY MOORE JOHNNY O'KEEFE SPIKE MILLIGAN

Just some of the many celebrities John Williams met and worked with over an extraordinary career Filled with humour, honesty and interesting tales, A Fortunate Life, provides a revealing look at Australia in the last half of the 20th century, where John worked as a journalist and, later, ran his own public relations firm.

John Williams was born in Liverpool in 1934 to a working class family and was the youngest of three children. John recalls his experiences of Liverpool during World War 2 and his first sights of the world as at the age of 17. He joined the Merchant Navy as a steward and served on bulk carriers and passenger liners bringing families and individuals from England and Europe who were hoping for a better life in Australia. Later, he served on the New Australia carrying Australian troops to and from the Korean Peninsula.

In 1953, John took his own discharge in Brisbane and began a new life travelling around Australia as a stooge for a famous Ventriloquist before landing a job as a journalist with The Daily Telegraph which later morphed into a very successful career in television and as a Public Relations consultant. During his career John recalls meeting the Beatles during their 1964 Australian Tour, working on films with Dudley Moore and Spike Milligan and running across Australia with Tony Rafferty.

John also worked with some of the biggest names in the business world including Rupert Murdoch and Sir Frank Packer and was instrumental in the getting East West, and later Compass, Airlines off the ground, which brought much needed competition to the airline industry that finally forced Australia's airline duopoly to fold.

A Fortunate Life is a fascinating tale of one man's extraordinary life and provides a unique, historical insight into Australia over the period 1950 to the present day.