Page 26 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 13 December 2016
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days of talk radio. Whenever I hear the sound of a clacking typewriter I think of this man.
Vinnie was a passionate man. He was passionate about most things. I can remember so many long lunches that were ended by them kicking us out of whatever restaurant we were in because we were too rowdy. Vincent was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in the early ’90s, and he quickly—very quickly—declined. He continued working right to the end, but he was as sick as a dog. I helped in whatever way I could as his producer. I still vividly recall those final months and, in particular, I recall one conversation that the two of us had very close to the end.
He was most unwell, was Vin. We had just finished a morning program. He had made the long walk from the studio to our office. He was exhausted. He slumped down in his chair, and he said these words to me: “Mark, the people in this place, they say hello and they smile at me, but I can see they feel very sorry for me. They feel sorry for me because they think I’m dying. In reality,” he said, “I am the luckiest man in the building.” “How do you figure that?” I asked him. “Well,” he said, “I am the only one here who knows what each day is worth. I am the only one here who knows what every moment is worth, and nobody else has got a bloody clue.”
I remember those words as though they were spoken yesterday. I have to tell you that they have influenced the way that I have gone about so many things since that day, because our time is so short. Vinnie was right. We take life for granted. We all seem to march on as though this thing called life is infinite, and it is not. We are all born with a terminal disease called life. None of us is going to make it out of here alive, and Vinnie taught me that we should all embrace each day. Our time is not a finite resource. One of the reasons that I am here is to leave as positive a footprint as I possibly can on this city, on this country and on this planet.
As I look around this place today, I see, well, not quite 24 other members, who I believe are also here on a selfless journey to make a positive impact in the city that we all share. I commend each and every one of you for having the courage to stand up for what you believe in and for taking this journey with me.
I understand that we are not always going to agree on everything. I look forward to the battle of ideas. I look forward to the conflict. I look forward to the toing and froing, but, above all else, I look forward to the times when we actually all come together and fix things, when we come together on important matters, because the people elected us to make the right decisions for them.
I had my official photographs for this place taken several weeks ago. I was wearing a green tie on the day the photo was taken. Some Liberal Party people suggested to me that that was the wrong choice. I responded to them by saying that I am colourblind in many more ways than one, and I am proud of that.
I am here for people of every race and religion. We are blessed to live in a wonderfully diverse multicultural society. I would like to embrace that as much as I possibly can. My wife Luisa is Colombian-born. As such, mine is a bilingual household. Estoy aprendiendo espanol, pero mi espanol es basura. I am learning
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