Tom Veidners

Gav,

I first met you in the Board Brokers den of 20 Bond Street - the home of the Board Brokers Den circa 1987. As you will recall, the shed was one of the most demanding workplaces in the country - making sure you arrived by 9:00am (ish) to play a few games of Racing Aces before a tough 2 hours in Outlands, where any minor dozing off was quickly addressed by the almighty "four-by-two" smash delivered by one Stuey Cook!. (Not to mention the wonderful practice of the telephone "pass-arounds" - gold!) Surprisingly, you chose to leave the rigours of the shed for a real job at Potts West before embarking on a successful career in advertising, stopping on the way for a brief foray into fashion - I only recently retired by brown corduroy BAIT shorts!

I can barely do justice to the many wonderful words written about you by your many, many friends - it is testimony to the many lives you have touched. Your story-telling is the stuff of legend and without fail managed to silence the cacophony of noise which accompanied the many Dodgy Vindaloo nights (where is Leo Sayer?), State of Origin and GFs in the early days. I want you to know that (whilst never telling you this before) you have been a massive inspiration to me. I recall the time before you cracked your first advertising role, you brought your notebook to the Dodgy Vs to capture one of the many "out-there" & hilarious moments for possible use at a later stage. As you know, the shed-members gave you mountains of stick about your notebook, but in the face this, you did not put it away timidly - you continued capturing some memorable moments and went on to not only crack, but conquer the world of advertising.

Biff, I will miss your generous spirit, your irreverent sense of humour, your cracking story-telling and most of all, your friendship. Whilst over the years we may not have seen each other often, when we did, it was as though we were catching up from last week - most recently Porteno which was brilliant! I will fondly remember many great times, in particular your Buck's Weekend in Port Stephens and Newcastle and I hope that down the track, you will be able to show me the way to Marathon Stadium!

My love and thoughts are with you, Maz & the family.

Your mate,

Tom ("The Orb") Veidners