R.I.P. David Burke, 90, in March 2018 (Australian writer on railroads)

[Lenona]

https://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/19500/john-burke/

Excerpts:

"...Journalist, adventurer, negotiator, writer and steam train buff. A man guided by strong faith - acting justly, loving kindly and walking humbly with his God...No flowers by request. In lieu of flowers donations to the Jesuit Mission or to the Puffing Billy Society are preferred..."

https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.books.childrens/c/dUZdGFFXYps/m/jHFAybeIAAAJ
(birthday post from 2017 - it includes a booklist, book covers, videos from the 1980s TV series "Come Midnight Monday," and a 2015 article)

[Lenona]

He was born in Melbourne and then lived in Sydney. He also wrote novels and visited Antarctica at least six times.

Not to be confused with the 76-year-old Sydney neurologist. Or the 86-year-old British actor. Or the younger American language writer. Or the 58-year-old American restaurateur from "Iron Chef."

https://www.berrimadistricthistoricalsociety.org.au/data/documents/504-April-2018-BDHS-Newsletter.pdf

Excerpt (scroll down about 1/3 for the article)

...David’s earliest employment was in the dark, dusty, sooty and greasy engine sheds at North Melbourne soon after WW 2 had ended. He is perhaps best known, however, for his attempt to rescue a steam train from oblivion by orchestrating the 'Goodbye Puffing Billy' special trips. While a journalist on the Melbourne newspaper The Sun in 1954, he was looking for a topic for his column in the Young Sun, a children's page. A railway enthusiast suggested he write to the Victorian Railways and propose that Puffing Billy made one last trip before the whole line in the Dandenong Ranges was torn up...