Pete grew up on a farm in the Western Australian Wheatbelt town of Tammin, in his words, “a place so small that even if you don’t blink, you’ll miss it”. He eventually left the huge wheat silos behind for big city life, going on to study at Aquinas College in Perth, the University of Western Australia (Bachelor of Science) and University of Canberra (Bachelor of Arts). However, he remains a country boy at heart.
A self-described journeyman, Pete’s working life has been extremely diverse, having been employed as a (deep breath!) bistro food server, fast-food caravan cook, florist delivery driver, football gate attendant, market researcher, restaurant dishwasher, taxi driver, and wheat-bin grain sampler and weighbridge operator. Pete even had Canberra Uni vacation stints as Santa Claus! He’s also been employed by the Western Australian and Australian Public Services, the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, and King Fahad National Guard Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Currently, Pete combines two of his greatest passions – mathematics and writing – to keep the wolves from the door.
A passionate fan of the Australian cricket team and the East Perth and Fitzroy (R.I.P.) Football Clubs, Pete is a strong supporter of environmental and animal welfare causes, including writing quiz night questions for the Perth Cat Haven and participating in the endangered Carnaby’s black cockatoo annual census.
A few more things about Pete …
- Pete has taught mathematics and statistics at both of his university alma mater, as well as the Canberra Institute of Technology, Murdoch University and (currently) Curtin University, for almost 30 years.
- Although lacking any semblance of ability, Pete is passionate about sport, particularly cricket and Aussie Rules footy. He was a sports reporter for The Canberra Times and enjoyed a long stint as a sports subeditor/columnist at Perth’s The Sunday Times.
- Before the station ceased broadcasting, Pete volunteered as a cricket and football commentator at Triple S FM Radio in Canberra. He’s currently the voluntary historian for the mighty East Perth Royals in the Western Australian Football League.
- A fan of post-apocalyptic science fiction movies, Pete also collects Sir Les Patterson “memorabilia” and has enjoyed travelling to culturally diverse countries such as Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Vietnam.
- In addition to having a great love of cats, Pete has a passion for birds, including black cockatoos (Carnaby, Baudin and Red-Tail), mischievous corellas and laconic ibises.