Stories from a Bygone Age: A Newspaper Memoir

It was a decade that changed journalism in Australia. Between 1966 and 1975 Melbourne’s Age newspaper was transformed by an inspirational editor, Graham Perkin. The venerable old broadsheet, founded in 1854, had already enjoyed a golden era in the 19th century under the legendary David Syme. Now, led by his great-grandson Ranald Macdonald and edited by Perkin, it began a second golden period. The changes they drove - from investigative reporting to design and marketing initiatives - impacted on the newspaper industry around the country. As it had under David Syme, The Age, once again, enjoyed an international reputation. This memoir is unashamedly a celebration of a remarkable period at The Age and recalls many of the people who were fortunate enough to work for the newspaper under Perkin and Macdonald.