Vale Dr Jimmy George
Dr Jimmy George
Bondi suffered a real loss recently. We met Jimmy only a couple of weeks ago at the pop up art show/garage sale on Lamrock Avenue. We were thrilled to meet Jimmy and the rest of that vibrant community but saddened to know that they would not be there for much longer as their building is soon to be demolished to make way for a new development. Jimmy was a key and beloved figure of that community since the 1970s. This photo was taken just days before he died suddenly of a heart attack.
Jimmy and I had agreed that I would post a story about him on this particular day as it is the anniversary of the death of his daughter who died of cancer in 2020 – during the thick of COVID.
We decided that it would be best to leave the telling of Jim’s story to two of his long time friends.
From his friend Haydn Keenan:
“Jim was one of the last and longest connections to old Bondi, when it was multi cultural, bohemian and great fun. He had lived and given to the community for more than forty years. He was a sociologist, one time member of the Communist Party of Australia, Polynesian Panther, union man, radio broadcaster and All Black tragic whose wry humour and generous spirit made him known and loved throughout the community. He could be seen most mornings around 4am jogging through the streets and picking up the daily papers, he still insisted on hardcopies, while engaging with everyone he met. For more than 40 years he broadcast a two hour show every Saturday afternoon on Koori Radio in Redfern with his idiosyncratic mix of politics, sport and music - in all of which he had exceptional taste. The homeless could always find a shower or a meal at his place and in a left field, modern way he ran an old school salon. In his sunroom you could find visiting bands in discussion with first nations activists, Algerian revolutionaries and dead set eccentrics. It was enervating, stimulating and hilarious. Gary Foley and I had always thought there would be a great TV series bolting cameras up around his flat and capturing what went on. This was before Big Brother and would have been much better. Jim was probably in line for a Guinness book of records entry for longest PhD candidate with it taking him over twenty years to get his Doctorate. The fact that he refused to use punctuation, (a white fella’s construct) didn’t help. Only when commas and full stops were inserted did it get through! He was a lifelong ambassador for Maori culture and from him we learned so much. Although he did try to convince me that Jimi Hendrix was a Maori. We thought Jim was indestructible as you do with the sort of fixture he was. He wasn’t. He was my friend. He will be much missed. The likes of him will not be seen again.”
From his friend Kye:
“Jim was 76 when he passed away. He was instrumental in organising the Building Bridges Concert, merging Indigenous and Polynesian musicians. He hosted the tangata whenua show on Koori radio 93.7 over 3 decades showcasing newcomers such as Percy Bishop, Mita Tahata, Kye Heta and Jahan Tyson who continue Jim’s legacy and his passion for the unwanted. He always had an open door policy. Nobody was excluded.
His daughter Mere was diagnosed with cancer when she was 40 and she passed at 52 . The community got together to write her a song as a dedication to her spirit and to show how she was so loved by her friends. Fly High Bondi Queen features Juzlo/ p smuf / mc thorn/ Kye/ Native/ MoGz/ Iresh - it’s a posse track.
Jim’s Out of Orbit Exit Bash at the pavilion late jan 2026 will feature loads of bands, djs, mcs, creating beams to catapult Jim’s spirit out of orbit back to his daughter and his mum and the rest of his brothers united in an infinite circle of love and compassion 🪐💥💫”
