Author(s): Philip Luker

Biography

Most media people come and go quickly but Phillip Adams is a survivor. John Howard tried to get rid of him and failed. He has a weekly radio audience of about 350,000, plus his Weekend Australian Magazine readers. In this book, he describes his relationship with eight Australian prime ministers, including Bob Hawke, who told the author Adams is often a pain in the arse, and Paul Keating, who said Adams 'paints in pre-cooked synonyms'. Adams hypnotises women (especially) with his intellect, and he is an enigma. This book reveals many hilarious anecdotes and examples of his brilliant mind. Few Australian journalists have been as prolific as Adams. He has written about three million words in books, newspapers and magazines; and he's spoken many more words than that as host of Late Night Live, four nights a week for twenty years. But these words don't describe his personal regrets or indicate his weaknesses. They hint at his joys but don't provide the details. In spite of this background, he has never published an autobiography. More surprising, for a man whose hallmark is the conversation interviews, is his reluctance to speak prospective biographers.
Despite leaving school at fifteen, Adams is comfortable conversing with academics, authors and other experts on subjects ranging from wombats to nuclear science. Along the way, Phillip Adams has crossed paths and occasionally come to blows with some of Australia's most prominent people: politicians, ad-men, film directors, business leaders, broadcasters and media tycoons. The list reads like a who's who of Australia -- and includes former prime ministers Paul Keating and Bob Hawke, current and past state premiers Mike Rann, Anna Bligh, Carmen Lawrence, John Cain and Bob Carr, psychologist Hugh Mackay; Cartoonist Bruce Petty; ex-Age publisher Ranald McDonald; film and television director Peter Faiman; actor Barry Humphries. Composer Peter Best; media tycoons Kerry Packer and Rupert Murdoch and many, many more -- an extraordinarily diverse list, reflecting the life of this unique Australian.