Kerry Packer by Michael Stahl (i read books .txt) 📕

he was even sicker of the dialysis, of the increasing indignity that remaining alive entailed. It was said that he had not been living at home for the last few years of his life—but he wanted to die there, not hooked up to yet another machine, in yet another hospital.

James was spending his Christmas aboard Arctic P in the Maldives, in the north Indian Ocean, when he received the phone call from his father. It was, James later said, an hour-long call that was very gentle and revealing. He would better understand its significance 24 hours later when a doctor phoned, urging him to return home immediately.

All the wealth in the world cannot shrink the size of the planet. With the Arctic P somewhere among the 1200 islands of the Maldives, James’ best-case scenario for getting home would have a helicopter landing on the deck and rushing him to the Ibrahim Nasir airport on Hulhule Island, where the family’s Falcon 200 private jet would be awaiting takeoff to Sydney, at least three fuel stops notwithstanding.

Perhaps commercial flights, for all the emotional turmoil that James must have been feeling, would get him home faster. Author Gerald Stone reported that James flew home commercially, changing flights in Singapore, and finally arriving at the Bellevue Hill home at 9pm on Boxing Day.

Kerry Packer died at 10:40pm.

Kerry’s grandfather, RC Packer, and his parents, Sir Frank and Lady Gretel Packer, are all interred in the Packer family tomb at Sydney’s South Head Cemetery. Kerry, however, had wanted to be buried on his beloved Ellerston estate. Being private property, the family had to secure the council’s consent.

The funeral service was intensely private, attended only by wife Ros, and James and Gretel with their respective partners.

It was quite a contrast to the media frenzy, VIP roll-out and slick, Nine Network-quality production of the State Memorial Service held for him several weeks later at the Sydney Opera House.

On 27 December 2011, six years and one day after Kerry Packer died, an extraordinary cargo was due to arrive on Australian soil. Artemis, a nine-metre tall, four-tonne bronze statue of a horse’s head, was cast in 2010 by British artist Nic Fiddian-Green. After standing for just over a year at the historic Goodwood racecourse in West Sussex, not far from Packer’s UK estate, it had journeyed from England via the Panama Canal.

The sculpture, it was said, had been bought by the widow of an Australian media mogul ‘with strong links to the equine world’ and would become a memorial at his graveside. Renamed by the artist as I Look Beyond for a Distant Land, there can have been no more fitting—or fittingly large—monument to Kerry Packer.

REFERENCES

BOOKS

Barry, P. (1993). The rise and rise of Kerry Packer. Milsons Point, NSW: Bantam.

Buttrose, I. (1985). Early edition: my first forty years. South Melbourne, Vic: Macmillan.

Callander, K. (2009). Good luck and good punting. Sydney, NSW: Pan Macmillan.

Castleman, D. (2004). Whale hunt in the desert: the secret Las Vegas of superhost Steve Cyr. Las Vegas, USA: Huntington Press.

Chenoweth, N. (2006). Packer’s lunch: a rollicking tale of Swiss bank accounts and money-making adventures in the roaring ‘90s. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Dunlap, A. J. (1997). Mean business: how I save bad companies and make good companies great. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Forsyth, C. (1978). The great cricket hijack. Camberwell, Vic: Widescope.

Lane, T. (1979). As the twig is bent. Melbourne, Vic: Dove Communications.

Latham, M. (2005). The Latham Diaries. Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Publishing.

Lee, C. (2012). Howzat!: Kerry Packer’s war. Sydney, NSW: NewSouth Publishing.

Sailor, W. (2013). Wendell Sailor: crossing the line. Cammeray, NSW: Simon and Schuster.

Stone, G. (2000). Compulsive viewing: the inside story of Packer’s Nine Network. Ringwood, Vic: Viking.

Stone, G. (2007). Who killed Channel 9?: the death of Kerry Packer’s mighty TV dream machine. Sydney, NSW: Pan Macmillan Australia.

Wilkins, R. (2012). Black ties, red carpets, green rooms. Chatswood, NSW: New Holland.

TELEVISION

ABC. (1979). Kerry Packer [Television series episode]. In Parkinson in Australia. Sydney, NSW: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

ABC. (1991, September 16). Warren Anderson [Television series episode]. In Four Corners. Sydney, NSW: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

ABC. (2001, February 14). Best of friends. In Australian Story. Sydney, NSW: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

ABC. (2004, April 15). George meets Ita [Television series episode]. In George Negus tonight. Sydney, NSW: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

ABC. (2011, August 15). Ita tells me so – part 1. In Australian Story. Sydney, NSW: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

ABC. (2014, April 14). A complicated life: Kerry Packer – part 2. In Australian Story. Sydney, NSW: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

ABC. (2014, April 7). A complicated life: Kerry Packer – part 1. In Australian Story. Sydney, NSW: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Channel Nine. (1991, November **) Kerry Packer [Television series episode]. In A Current Affair. Sydney, NSW: Nine Network.

Channel Nine. (1995, February 16). Kerry Packer [Television series episode]. In A Current Affair. Sydney, NSW: Nine Network.

Channel Nine. (2006, February 16). The big fella: the extraordinary life of Kerry Packer. Sydney, NSW: Nine Network.

Channel Seven. (2012, September 20). Sir David Frost [Television series episode]. In Sunday Night. Sydney, NSW: Channel Seven.

Channel Seven. (2013, 10 February). James Packer [Television series episode]. In Sunday Night. Sydney, NSW: Channel Seven.

Denton, A. (2003, 5 May). Episode 8 – Rene Rivkin [Television series episode]. In Enough Rope. Sydney, NSW: Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

RADIO

Epstein, R. (Presenter). (2004, September, 30). Interview with Steve Cyr. In Drive [Radio broadcast]. 774 ABC Melbourne.

Trembath, B. (Presenter). (2006, February 17). Interview with Dr Bridget Griffen-Foly. In The World Today [Radio broadcast]. ABC Radio National.

Trembath, B. (Presenter). (2006, February 17). Interview with Ray Martin. In The World Today [Radio broadcast]. ABC Radio National.

Trioli, V. (Presenter). (2006, February 17). Interview with Peter Costello. In Kerry Packer Memorial Service [Radio broadcast]. 702 ABC Radio.

SPEECHES AND MEDIA STATEMENTS

Beazley, K. (2005, December 27). Media statement on Kerry Packer’s death.

Benaud, R. (2006, February 17). Speech at Kerry Packer’s memorial service. Sydney Opera House, NSW.

Howard, J. (2005, December 27). Press conference on Kerry Packer’s