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Derek Rielly - The Wordsmith! - 20th September 2019
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By
James Hutton
Bondi
wordsmith and surf fanatic Derek Rielly has enjoyed
a successful publishing career. After co-founding
Stab magazine with his friend Sam McIntosh, Derek
went on to establish surf website BeachGrit.com with
his buddy Chas Smith, before a move into biographical
writing saw him release his hugely popular biography
of former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, Wednesdays
with Bob. The Beast caught up with the best-selling
author and multi-faceted storyteller as he prepared
for the launch of his biography of Australian icon
David Gulpilil…
How
are you this morning Derek? I’m great thanks
Hutto. It’s 24 degrees in the middle of winter.
I can tan quickly. What takes people hours to do,
I can tan in half an hour.
You
grew up in Perth? Yeah, that’s right.
What
were some of your fondest memories of your childhood?
The fondest memory of my childhood was leaving Perth
when I was 19. It was a surfing thing. The waves there
sucked. Otherwise, I had one of those idyllic suburban
childhoods of football and cricket, as well as a lovely
big brother. I was a horrible, horrible younger brother,
though. He was kind, patient, would always buy me
presents and we’d kick footies together all day.
My response was to throw darts at him, goad him into
fights and destroy the gifts he gave me. And then
when I was 13 I discovered surfing, but I lived half
an hour from the beach so I either had to get a ride
from my dad or ride my bike the thirty kilometres.
What
was the closest break? Leighton and Cottlesloe.
You
surfed at Cottlesloe? Yeah, Cottlesloe was fun.
There was another place called Cables, a joint with
a semi-reef setup.
And
your old man was a pro-wrestler apparently, is that
true? No, it’s all bullshit.
Is
it actually? It’s from when Matt Warshaw
was doing the Encyclopedia of Surfing and he was working
on my entry. I thought I’d colour it up a little
bit.
*click
here for full interview
(The
Beast)
The
Beast Facebook
Greg
Tingle Facebook
I
do a hell of a lot of reading, writing (and a few
interviews too), and this Derek Rielly interview rates
of one of the very best I have ever read. I'm not
crawling, just being real and fair dinkum. I was pleased
to have seen this print edition of The Beast at Bakehouse
South Coogee, so I knocked off, brought it hope, and
have it on the coffee table, right next to the laptop
and my cappuccino, and not surprisingly it is helping
and inspiring some of my own writing. Derek (and David
Gulpilil) have lived full lives and have plenty of
strange but true yarns to tell. The Beast and Derek
are demonstrating to me further that there is no need
to suffer from what is universally known as "writers
block". One just needs to keep writing. Derek
just has so much material and experiences to work
with. I've been thinking about my wild adventures
so far, and I'm just starting to ramp up articles
that I believe will eventually form a great foundation
fodder for my own book. Writing also helps get "shit"
(thoughts and over-thinking) out of my head, just
like swimming, surfing and yoga does. I just wanted
to say a sincere thanks to you, Derek and The Beast
family for helping me rediscover my writing mojo.
Rolling Stone Australia may have encountered a few
ebbs and flows in the Australian publishing biz, but
The Beast is helping keep the Gonzo Journalism spirit
alive and well. I really think the late, great and
notorious Hunter S. Thompson would be proud of you,
James and the crew. I was pissed when I couldn't find
any hardcopy Rolling Stone mags at the local library,
but at least I re-discovered The Beast. I'm not surprised
you have built a strong and loyal following, which
if I'm not mistaken also includes business and media
genius, eco-warrior (and all round great bloke) Richard
Branson. RB and his crew helped open the door for
some great biz dealings I enjoyed over the years.
Much of that work is now outsourced offshore to a
few places I would rather not name, but at least Virgin
Group gave me the opportunity in the first place.
PS: readers might be interested to have a guernsey
of my scribblings on the wrestling and MMA world...
plug here since the main event of the Battle Championship
Wrestling promotion at Entertainment Quarter, Moore
Park, was my long time mate Dan 'The Beast' Severn
vs 'The World's Most Dangerous Man' Ken Shamrock.
I interviewed them too. Hey, fact is always stranger
than fiction. I'll tip Severn off about your Beast
too! Bring on the 'Battle Of The Beast' - could be
right up the alley of MTV's 'Celebrity Death Match',
which I used to promote when flogging subscription
television many moons ago. Back to surf culture for
a second, Beach Grit frigging rocks. Rad with reef
gashs, fin cuts and the occasional and accidental
(or not) drop in. Let's Keep Making Australia (and
the printed word) Great Again. Greg Tingle - Newport
Beach, Bondi Beach and Maroubra Beach connection.
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