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You wouldn't read about it

By Lionel Hogg - posted Tuesday, 15 April 2008


Dad knew Margaret Mee from his school days in Rockhampton, each regularly riding past the other’s home on their bicycles. Dad swears it was Mum who was always keen on him; Mum swears it was the opposite. Regardless, they ran into each other periodically for years until Mum, visiting Melbourne on holidays, saw Dad’s by-line in the Herald and rang to enquire if the writer was indeed Lionel Hogg from Rockhampton.

Stories of their courtship vary and I regard them both as unreliable witnesses, so I’ll adopt Dad’s mantra and stick to the known facts. This time they fell in love - there must have been some doubt for a while, as it was Dad’s third engagement - but they married in Brisbane on March 19, 1953 and forged a partnership of just under 55 years.

In 1954, Dad was posted to Darwin as the Herald’s representative and later recalled tales of the Wild West, the magnificent countryside and the wonders and despair of aboriginal culture. On most evenings, Dad would camp out at the airport to discover any in-bound international VIP’s all in the name of the scoop - the strategy had him talking to them seven hours before they landed in Sydney. While in Darwin, Dad also covered a key part of the Petrov affair, Australia’s biggest spy scandal.

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The Darwin stint ended a month before the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and, with an accommodation shortage and needing a break, Mum and Dad took nine weeks leave in Brisbane and Coolangatta.

During this time, a Ukranian lady, Nina Paranyuk, caused an international diplomatic incident when she failed to return to a Russian cruise ship, on which she was a stewardess. She later obtained political asylum, but for over six weeks couldn’t be found. This was in the heart of the Cold War. She was sought by Soviet agents, ASIO, the Commonwealth Police, the Victorian Special Branch, Immigration Department investigators and, of course, half of the journalists in the country.

When Dad returned to the Herald after his break, she was still missing and he convinced the Chief of Staff to put him on the story. Using contacts and cunning, he found her and, after gaining trust, interviewed her for four nights in Mum and Dad’s apartment. To their landlady’s later relief, Nina was not a communist.

Dad’s story won the 1957 Walkley Award - the second ever - for the best piece of newspaper reporting in Australia. It was awarded in the heyday of newspapers, when television news was embryonic. It was the top award of only three categories - today’s Walkleys have well over 20 reporting categories. It was Dad’s proudest achievement in journalism.

In 1958, Dad became Chief of Staff of the Herald and in 1962 became head of the Herald’s London bureau, working on Fleet Street for two years and filing international stories.

Dad returned from London with his cherished 1959 Mark 9 Jaguar, which he kept until its running expenses got the better of him. It broke a few world land speed records in its time, but I lost count of the occasions Dad simply talked his way out of speeding fines. The most notable was a 15-minute roadside chat early one morning on the Bruce Highway en route to North Queensland in the early 1980s. It took Dad less than a minute to convince the motorcycle cop to give him a break; then they just chatted and chatted and chatted. Dad had that way with people.

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Actually, Dad’s life was littered with car stories. Of clearing the car pool at critical times by sending his reporters on bogus assignments so that the cars weren’t available to reporters on the sister morning newspaper. It was always important to scoop even your closest colleagues.

Of overtaking police cars racing to crime scenes in the black Herald Buick in Melbourne. Of having his police rounds driver ignore traffic police directions, again in the Buick. Of driving Darwin police Superintendent Littlejohn off the road in the Herald Chev, on two separate occasions. And of being threatened with arrest but escaping censure on each of these occasions. I shouldn’t admit he taught me to drive.

After 10 years of marriage and travel, children finally arrived. I was born in London in 1963 and Ian in Brisbane in 1966, after Dad had taken up the position of Deputy Editor of the Brisbane Telegraph. Dad became editor of the Telegraph in 1975 and, in 1981, took up a consulting position with Queensland Newspapers until his retirement in 1989. Dad died almost 20 years to the day after the closure of the Telegraph.

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About the Author

Lionel Hogg is co-founder of On Line Opinion. He practices as a lawyer in Brisbane.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Lionel Hogg

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