Owning the day

Australian chef and restaurateur Bill Granger (1969-2023) died on Christmas Day of cancer. Although he did not invent avocado on toast, he certainly popularized the breakfast dish through his restaurants in Sydney, London and elsewhere. In an interview with the AFR earlier this year, he is reported to have said:

I grew up in Melbourne, and when I moved to Sydney, I was shocked by its morning life. People were on the beach, walking through the park, owning the day. It felt very Australian, very optimistic. I think avocado on toast is optimistic.”

Transitions 2017

People who have passed on during 2017, whose life or works have influenced me:

  • Kenneth Arrow (1921-2017), American economist
  • John Berger (1926-2017), British writer and art critic
  • Chuck Berry (1926-2017), American musician
  • John Clarke (1948-2017), New Zealand & Australian comedian
  • John Charles Rowell Fieldsend CJ (1921-2017), Zimbabwean Chief Justice
  • Jerry Fodor (1935-2017), American philosopher
  • Joel Goodman Joffe (1932-2017), South African lawyer and defender of Nelson Mandela at Rivonia trial
  • Ahmed Kathrada (1929-2017), South African democracy activist and political prisoner
  • Liu Xiaobo (1955-2017), Chinese writer and democracy activist
  • Peter Luck (1944-2017), Australian TV journalist
  • Maryam Mirzakhani (1977-2017), Iranian & American mathematician
  • Rory O’Donoghue (“Thin Arthur”, “Flash Nick from Jindavick”) (1949-2017), Australian comedian
  • Josh Parsons (1973-2017), New Zealand philosopher
  • Raymond Smullyan (1919-2017), American logician and taoist
  • Timothy Stamps (1936-2017), Zimbabwean doctor and Minister for Health (1986-2002)
  • Herman Toivo ya Toivo (1924-2017), Namibian freedom fighter and politician
  • Tony Vinson (1935-2017), Australian sociologist
  • Vladimir Voevodsky (1966-2017), Russian & American mathematician
  • Heathcote Williams (1941-2017), British poet, writer, playwright, actor
  • Daniel Yankelovich (1924-2017), American pollster and market researcher.

Past editions of Transitions can be found here.

Transitions 2016

People who have passed on during 2016, whose life or works have influenced me:

  • Edward Albee (1928-2016), American playwright
  • Myrtle Berman (1924-2016), South African political activist and resistance fighter
  • Daniel Berrigan SJ (1921-2016), American priest and political activist
  • Pierre Boulez (1925-2016), French composer and conductor
  • Victoria Chitepo (1928-2016), Zimbabwean politician
  • Harold Cohen (1928-2016), British-American artist and AI pioneer
  • Ronnie Corbett (1930-2016), British comedian
  • Umberto Eco (1932-2016), Italian writer
  • Bob Ellis (1942-2016), Australian playwright and journalist
  • Tom Hayden (1939-2016), American political activist
  • Chip Heathcote (1931-2016), Australian statistician
  • Bobby Hutcherson (1941-2016), American vibraphonist
  • Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016), British composer
  • Diana Mitchell (1932-2016), Zimbabwean historian
  • Yukio Ninagawa (1935-2016), Japanese theatre director
  • John Satterthwaite (1928-2016), Australian engineer and Bishop
  • Thomas Schelling (1921-2016), American game theorist and strategist
  • Garry Shandling (1949-2016), American comedian
  • Lois Weisberg (1925-2016), Chicagoan connector
  • Alexander Yessenin-Volpin  (1924-2016),  Russian-American poet, mathematician and dissident.