John Linton
The last few days have been some of the most
difficult I have ever had to go through, and I know this is equally hard for
the rest of my family. However, dad always looked for the positive in every
situation, no matter how dire, and he certainly would want us to focussing on
the positives right now. In hindsight there was really no better way for dad to
leave us. He was the centre of attention at a lovely restaurant doing what he
did best. I really won’t be able to do a
great man like him justice, but for the next few minutes, I would like to tell
you a little about the man who I have had the absolute pleasure of calling dad
for the last twenty eight years.
My dad has always been there for my family, doing
everything possible to make all of our lives that little bit more special. As
well as my family, I see many people in this room who he has also affected for
the better. The most important lesson he ever taught me was. If you want to
succeed in business, you need those around you to be successful, only then will
you truly succeed. Just like at home, dad always did what he could, to help
anyone that worked for him, and truly believed in giving inexperienced staff
opportunities where others wouldn’t. He was always there when any of us, family
or otherwise, needed any help or advice, and nothing was ever too much trouble
for him, no matter how busy he appeared.
For such a busy man, he was very persistent and
never gave up. His blog is a small demonstration of his persistence, and over
the last four and a half years he wrote 1,649 individual articles. He
originally started it after a bet with a colleague who bet him a bottle of the
whiskey of his choice, if he was able to write a daily blog of at least 700
words for a one year period, with five days grace for travel and other
eventualities. He well and truly won this bet. His blog is something my family
and I are so thankful for. It is a collection of his thoughts, and is filled
with advice, insights, and reminders of who he was. It is surprising the number
of emails I have received, and comments on his blog over the last few days.
From people who, although never met
my dad, felt like they knew him through his daily musings, and just like me,
their morning coffee ritual has changed forever.
As well as a collection of his thoughts, his blog
was also a place which will forever provide me with a laugh. Particularly his
commentary on Australian politics, the
people that make this up, and the nicknames dad had for his good friends in the
Australian Labor Party……
For someone who has worked in the technology
industry his entire life, he wasn’t the most technologically literate person around. Often having quarrels
with his various laptops at home, and the TV, and despite the fact he ran a
telecommunications company never used a mobile phone and thought Iphone’s were
a wank.
Speaking of entertainment, you might be interested
to know that my well read father, was a fan of action movies. Some of his
favourites included the first Indiana Jones movie. Where Eagles Dare with Richard Burton and a very young Clint
Eastwood, and the first two Terminator movies. He also really enjoyed a movie
called Fever Pitch, about his favourite football team Arsenal and their
championship winning season in 1988-1989. His favourite line from this movie
reminds me a bit of him, and it was. Please, just fucking fuck off, which is
what Colin Firth shouted out of his window when someone pressed his doorbell
during the last 60 seconds of a Liverpool Arsenal game. However, last but not
least, his absolute favourite movie of all time was Top Gun. I guess just like Tom
Cruise in Top Gun, both were Mavericks that finished on top.
He truly has been an inspiration to me. Not many
people can be given a choice of two different countries, and end up in
Australia a little younger than 18. Working at Woolworths Marourba sweeping
floors, dealing blackjack in illegal casinos in Kings Cross. To ending up
signing some of the largest deals in IT history during the 1980s, outselling
Apple, IBM, Dell in the 1990s, and lastly managing one of Australia’s largest
internet service providers.
Yes, he had a very successful life, but despite all of this, he was still the
best husband, father, and friend any of us could ever have hoped for. I will
miss my father, manager, and best friend. He always made time for me, and
pushed me to do better, without it really looking like I was pushed. I miss you
so much dad, and I’ll finish now with a George Bernard Shaw quote you used to
say to me, which I think best describes you, albeit with a few changes.
“Some men see things as they are and say why – John
Linton dreams things that never were and says why the fuck not.”