December 17
On this date in 1937,
Kerry Packer was born in Sydney,
Australia. His father was the wealthy Sir Frank Packer, an influential
figure in Australian publishing and broadcasting. After his father’s
death in 1974, Packer inherited Sir Frank Packer’s media legacy: He
became head of the Australian Consolidated Press (1974–2005), chairman
of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, and owner of Channel Nine. In
1977, Packer founded World Series Cricket, an independent cricket
competition televised on Channel Nine, which provided higher salaries
for players and changed the way that cricket was played for television.
In order to form World Series Cricket, Packer recruited famous players
from traditional cricket teams, making him the subject of worldwide
controversy. He married Roslyn Redman Weedon in 1963 and they have two
children, James and Gretel.
In 1990, Packer suffered the first of
many heart attacks while playing polo. The heart attack left Packer
clinically dead, but he was successfully revived after about eight
minutes. “Believe me, there is nothing on the other side. I’ve been
there,” Packer said of his experience (quoted in a Dec. 27, 2005 BBC
News article).
D. 2005
“The good news is there’s no devil. The bad news is there’s no heaven. There’s nothing.”
—Kerry
Packer, speaking about the time he spent clinically dead after a severe
heart attack (quoted in a Reuters News Service article on Dec. 27,
2005).
Compiled by Sabrina Gaylor -
ww.ffrf.org
No comments:
Post a Comment