I learnt the most awful news
on Tuesday: author and columnist Sam de Brito
was found dead on the morning of the 12th of September! This came a
shock, and from what I can gather from the cybersphere, I am not alone in this
feeling of sadness.
I first met Sam back in
2009. That was as I was studying for my Diploma in Communications; we met one
day at a gathering at Collaroy Beach with the Disabled Surfers’ Assiociation.
When he heard that I was looking to do some work experience, he kindly arranged
for me to spend a week with the ABC radio station ‘Life Matters’.
To discuss this and my
ambitions further we met and had lunch one day near Chinatown. Specifics elude
me now, but I do remember an easygoing and genuinely interested chap.
In the years after I
frequently read his column, often revisited chapters of his book ‘Building
A Better Bloke’ and occasionally wrote to him expressing my thanks for his shrewd
observations. I agree: he was a rebel, of sorts, indeed a cheeky “sonofabitch”
and definitely the kind of fellow the younger me would have steered clear of.
But I liked him, and I know our interactions helped me as I shaped my masculine
identity.
Sam, I grieve with your
family. You were always decent and treated me as an equal. I will miss the astute way you saw things and your very realistic take on life. Rest in peace, my
brother.
