Some chronology for John Joseph Ray

1957 & 1958


A most scenic drive near where I grew up -- the road from Cairns to Port Douglas



At High school

When my parents moved from Innisfail to Stratford in Cairns they did not take me along to enrol me at a new school -- as it would be done these days. They left it entirely up to me. So I got on the bus from Stratford one morning and found my new school by myself.

I did not think much at the time of the fact that my mother or father did not go along to help enrol me but in retrospect it does seem odd. Though I suppose I was an independent little bugger (aged 13).

So I got onto the bus to North Cairns school only to be told when I arrived that I was at the wrong school. I needed to go to the High School in Sheridan St.

So I waited for the next bus and got on with no money to pay another fare. But the bus driver was indulgent in a typical country way so that was no problem. He just dropped me off at the High School.

By that time the High School was "in" so I just wandered around looking for someone to speak to. Coincidentally, one of the classes I walked past was being taught by a "Miss Gagno" -- who had taught me in Innisfail. So when I stopped outside her class, she simply said "Hello John" and took me down to where the Principal's office was.

When I was in Sub-Junior my English teacher was one Murray Fastiere, of partly French ancestry, I believe.

He was a very cultured man and a former pupil of organist Marcel Dupre and one day invited his class to an organ recital he was giving at St Andrew's Presbyterian church (where I normally went for Sunday School).

I went along by myself on my pushbike to the recital.

It must have been Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor he played because I was entranced and the name Bach rang in my head for years

All I had ever heard at home was the Top 40. The only songs I ever heard at home that I liked as a child were "Lady of Spain" and "Granada". An instrumental work that I liked was "That Happy Feeling".

I liked Fastiere. He wore a yellow sleeveless jumper and green pants when no-one else at that time did. I have been a devotee of sleeveless jumpers ever since. He spoke with what I thought was an Australian accent but it could have been a Home Counties accent -- as an educated Australian accent and a Home Counties accent are quite close. But from the surname he probably had a French father and he did often mention to us that he was a pupil of Marcel Dupre. NOBODY in Cairns knew what that meant! But he was in fact a good organist so Dupre obviously did him some good.

In English class once we were reading something about ships (probably by Conrad) and "thudding" engines were mentioned. The teacher, Murray Fastiere, asked us what that was about. The rest of the class kept their heads down and their eyes on their books but I popped my hand up. I said: "Probably triple expansion engines". I was a smart bastard already by then.

Fastiere hastily said: "Yes, yes, reciprocating engines". He was a man of culture so I imagine that he knew nothing of the triple expansion cycle in marine steam engines.

As well as Murray Fastiere, I also remember my German teacher and Latin teachers.

In sub-Junior we were taught Latin by "Mr. O'Sullivan" -- who was, however, universally referred to as "Deadbeat". He was a tall, thin, rather hesitant man who taught Latin in an old-fashioned grammarİoriented way.

In Junior we had for Latin a Mr Kuskey, a young and rather untidy man who also started an after-hours music appreciation group for the students. It was there that I first heard Dvorak's "New World" symphony -- something that again left a lasting impression.

Our German teacher was Leonard Gavrishchuk -- a Ukrainian, I gather from the terminal "uk" in the surname. He died without issue some time in the '80s but when I knew him he was a small, dark-haired, unassertive young man but with bright twinkling dark eyes.

His favourite saying seemed to be: "You must be precise" -- generally accompanied by an upraised thumb. As a teacher, he had a bit of trouble keeping order but I was one of his favourite pupils because of my instant memory for what I was taught.

He and I used to chat about things after hours too, but I cannot remember what the topics were.

When my Junior German examination came around, I got mixed up about the date and forgot to attend -- my "professorial" memory again.

Mr. Gavrishchuk noticed my absence and sent another student around on a pushbike to my home at 308 Mulgrave Rd. to remind me. I arrived 1.5 hrs late for a 3 hour exam but still completed all questions with half an hour to spare and was awarded an "A" (the top category of marks) anyway.

Doing things in much less time than anybody else has always been a forte of mine. I can never really understand why so many things take so many people so long. I guess my nervous system just runs much faster than most. To be a bit cybernetic about it, my brain must have a high "clockİspeed".

Only two report cards from my Cairns schooldays have survived. The 1956 report shows that in form 1C, my position in class for the term 3 examination was 3rd for English, 7th for Maths and 9th for Social Studies. There were 43 in the class.

My 1958 report for Form IIIA2, the Term ended 9th August, shows that my position in the class was 1st for English, 6th for Latin, 7th for German, 15th for Geography, 14th for Maths A, 13th for Maths B (Geometry), 6th for Chemistry and 5th for Physics. There were 26 in the class. The teacher comments were: "Has a remarkable command of English" and "Academic interest should be encouraged. Examination results and the attitude towards study indicate good prospects for the Senior".

I suspect that that particular report card survived only because it was the only one where I ever came first in anything.


Cairns High

My results in the Junior examination were: English, Geography & German -- As; Latin, Maths & Geometry -- Bs; Chemistry & Physics -- Cs.

Throughout my schooling I encountered IQ tests fairly often. We seemed to get one about once a year. They were as fashionable then as they are unfashionable now. The most predictive part of a IQ test is the vocabulary scale: A list of words in increasing order of rarity -- where you have to pick the correct meaning for each one. The last word on the list is so rare that only oddballs are expected to know it. But I always got all of them right without effort.

Then one day I got a shock. The final word on the list was one I had never seen before: "Inchoate". And the derivation wasn't obvious either. But I knew how English compounds are formed and I knew the use and meaning of the common English prefixes and suffixes. So after a minute or two under my gaze the word emerged as meaning something like "unformed". So I ticked the answer "just beginning", which was of course right.

Note that I got the answer not from luck or a guess but as a deduction from a prior body of knowledge. That is how a clever clogs works. He doesn't know everything. Nobody does. But he has a set of strategies that enable him to figure out the right answer from the knowledge that he does have.

I wonder a little about those I went to school with. I got on rather well with several of my fellow students at Cairns State High. I think I got on best with Peter Cook, Graeme Stevens and Geoffrey O'Callaghan. But how do you contact a Peter Cook via Google? The comedian of that name overwhelms you. More hope with Graeme (if that is the spelling. Graham?) and I know his family ran Lake Placid at the time.

And what about Loren Gane -- known by some as "Gane with the lame tame crane". He was a bit of an outsider but I got on well with him. He lived in Pruett (Prewett?) lane at the time. And last I heard he studied for a Th.L. at the St. Francis Anglican seminary at Milton and got into some trouble.

Even fellow students I did not gell with at the time would be interesting to contact --"Marble", for instance, (Keith Crosland).



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E.&O.E.

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