A Sad Ending To A Larger-Than-Life Life

I just heard that Australian media mogul Kerry Packer has died. He was the owner of Channel 9 (the biggest television network in this country), and although only known to the younger generation as an alcohol-swilling braggard, we often forget that he was a fantastic businessman who even risked his life personally back in the day to bring to light a particularly damning current affairs story on the misuse of power in Tibet. (Or something like that.)





He is also regarded as being single-handledly responsible for bringing those cricket games to the world where the competing countries all dress up in different pretty pastel colours ... for which I despise him, as I loathe cricket. But still, many people love the game, and they can thank Kerry Packer for there being so much of the mind-numbingly-dull sport to watch each year. Packer copped a lot of flack for it at the time, but he believed in himself - and now (unfortunately) we can't think of cricket any other way. Did I mention I despise him for this? Well, I do.


Kerry Packer and then-Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke in happier times (I bet he's not smiling now).



I've just managed to obtain the first photos from Packer's death bed. Apparently he passed away in his sleep with all his family in attendance. I'm not sure where they were, then, when these photos were taken. The sceptic in me wonders if they waited a full five minutes before rushing out to argue over the will. But here are the first two photos released of Packer's death scene:









(I'm going to hell for this aren't I.)


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