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https://www.abc.net.au/news/backstory/2022-05-28/robyn-williams-50-years-abc-science-norman-swan-saved-his-life/101104326>
"As astronauts on board Apollo 17 carried out a momentous mission in December
1972 — the first Moon landing by a scientist-astronaut, Harrison Schmitt, and
the last opportunity (so far) for humans to walk on the lunar landscape — a
young Robyn Williams found himself taking a giant leap into the broadcasting
unknown.
Earlier that year, the 28-year-old science (honours) graduate from the
University of London had turned up at the ABC Science Unit looking for a job
and, luckily, in what he calls a "sliding doors" moment, science journalist Max
Bourke (future head of the Australia Council and founding director of the
Heritage Council) had just resigned, and Williams was hired as a "gopher".
"They needed a gopher because during the Apollo missions that year — Apollo 16
launched in April — they wanted someone to collect facts for the broadcasters.
For example, 'If you put the rocket next to the AMP building at Circular Quay,
which will be higher?' That sort of thing," Williams recalls.
"We'd be on air for about 24 hours a day. The ABC cleared the decks and we went
live everywhere. We got messages from the astronauts on the Apollo. And then
they landed on the Moon, and I thought, 'Holy shit, this is happening, they're
actually doing it.' It was very exciting."
While studying in the UK, Williams had done some part-time acting, appearing as
an extra on BBC television shows such as
Doctor Who,
Monty Python's Flying
Circus and
The Goodies — and working alongside stars such as Tom Jones, John
Cleese, and Peter Sellers — but he had no on-air radio broadcasting experience.
His work had been behind the scenes during the space broadcasts. Then, as the
voices of the astronauts on Apollo 17 were aired on the ABC, Williams was
suddenly presented with a sink-or-swim moment.
"[Director of the ABC Science Unit] Peter Pockley had been on air, brilliantly,
for hours and he looked through the glass of the radio studio to where I was
sitting, feeding him information, and he said, 'OK, I'm going off now. Come in,
sit there, there's the switch, take over.' And that was my training!" says
Williams."
A living legend.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
