Snippet 19 - Thomas (Tom) Frank
“ HAVE YOU TIME FOR A CUP OF COFFEE? ” Tom Frank [1] taught me to Fish. Tom Frank taught me to understand the relentless Terror of living under the Nazis and then the Russian Communists. And Tom Frank taught me how to enjoy “ coffee with a friend ”. As often as we could in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Tom and I, accompanied by my Labrador, Sam, would wander down from Tom’s Kew home to the banks of the Yarra River to fish. Well, only one of us fished as Tom was very insistent on my learning the correct way to knot sinkers ‘n hooks, the best way to hold a rod whilst watching the water surface, the best way to hook a fighting fish, and what recipes were to be used for its cooking, and so it went. Sam adored Tom. Tom loved dogs, indeed all living things except Humans. So, Sam would leave my side and rest his head on Tom’s gumboots and listen attentively to all the instructions. After Tom’s appointed “ sufficient ” t...