Other Times

Ron Banks

Life, journalism and the arts

Finally, a concise account of what made journalism tick in the romantic days of hot metal, flongs, stone subbing, typewriter bashing, bakelite phones and shady contacts: in short, everything to do with the days before digital. Journalist Ron Banks reflects on what life was like on the editorial floor of The West Australian newspaper when he began as a rookie.

The reader follows his journey into the arts as he works his way out of the tobacco smoke to carve out a reputation as a perceptive reviewer and profiler of the famous, not-so-famous and now forgotten artists who visited Perth as it evolved into a sophisticated city with a thriving arts scene.

 

About the Author

Ron Banks’ accident of birth meant he was destined to live most of his life in Western Australia, where he became a journalist on The West Australian.

After several years as a general reporter Banks gravitated towards the arts, and wrote about the cultural life of Perth, the city of his birth for more than two decades. His decision to revisit his early life as a journalist was motivated by a perceived decline in newspaper popularity and a desire to document the history of The West Australian in its glory days as a newspaper of record. He fears the print version of The West Australian may one day be gone, but hopes that is not the case.

Banks lives at Perry Lakes in Floreat, a few metres from where Mick Jagger performed with The Rolling Stones.