Читать книгу Fabulous Fred - Paul Amy - Страница 5

It is a challenge to dislike Fred Cook. A persuasive, laconic, rambling raconteur, he is a flawed gemstone.

In his heyday he captivated sporting crowds as an icon of the country’s second-tier Australian Rules football competition of the day, the Victorian Football Association. There was no bigger name in the VFA than Fred Cook, or ‘Fabulous Fred’, as his legions of fans called him.

But he succumbed to the pressures of a pop-star, Hollywood lifestyle, and he paid dearly for the romance.

His foray into the hospitality industry as the proprietor of Port Melbourne’s Station Hotel gave his extroverted life another kick, and his constant companions were the elite movers and shakers of society. As sure as night follows day, the opportunists, those detecting a chance to exploit, and the criminal underclass gradually permeated his person.

This is the classic chronological rise-and-fall story of sex, drugs and rock-and-roll, made all the meretricious by a large dose of sport — except this ain’t no story!

Sam Newman

June 2014