About

I discovered computers by accident in the 1970s when I was lucky enough to leave school (escape!) at 15 and find a job that led to double entry bookkeeping, computer operating, and programming. It was the days before screens and disc drives. We had tapes and punch cards. All museum stuff now.

I rediscovered a love of words and writing in the late 1980s (that’s another story) and returned to formal education to study language, communication, and culture.

In 1995, the internet changed everything. I combined the technology and the writing to work independently: web development, online publishing, online community building, and performance marketing.

As the face behind BCL.com.au, I worked with clients ranging from multi-national corporations to home-based micro-businesses for 20 years. That was a turbulent time that disrupted many traditional business models, especially media and retail.

Along the way, I’ve held positions on various committees and boards. This added a third subject to the mix – the joys and challenges of small business, non-profit enterprises, and volunteer organisations.

Shady Lanes

In 2019, I created the Shady Lanes Project – combining decades of IT with communication, business and marketing experience to help address the issues of climate change and biodiversity loss through collaboration.

I believe that everyday conversations and stories are the key to creating a strong civic society where people and nature can thrive, with an economy designed to support it all. My focus is on loose networks and ways to bring diverse people together, in person and online, working across sectors and disciplines to connect and find a common purpose.

I was delighted to receive the TREENET Gold Leaf Award for in 2025 for my work with encouraging urban forests in the community. It’s another sign that connections are happening and we’re all on the same side.

and the rest…

My lifelong interest is the everyday: language and conversations that maintain the status quo or enable change and progress; people who all deserve a chance; and nature that does its thing.

I write in various formats about education, child development, learning difficulties and difference, social politics, language and communication.

These are my obsessions. Please don’t ask me about them if you want quick and simple answers.

An open and accessible internet – The promise of the internet was that it offered low barriers to entry for individuals, small businesses and small organisations. This was spoiled by the dominance of a few global internet companies. Fortunately, the tide may be turning.

Communication, Language and Meaning – Language and the way that it creates meaning, builds and maintains power, and shapes our lives, has always been a passion of mine. As a mature-age university student, I was fortunate to study these fields and develop my interest and understanding.

Education – To watch a child learn is a delight. To see their love of learning and their confidence in their own ability to learn undermined is tragic. Hence my interest in the politics of education, and the conflict between the idea of education as development of the mind and the reality of the requirements and practices within educational institutions.

My Garden – We moved into a house with a neat and barren garden. It is now an organic garden with a mix of habitat and native trees, shrubs and groundcovers, fruit and veg growing, ponds and quiet places to sit, all squeezed into a suburban block. I’ve put this on one of our oldest domains brisbanecitylife.com.au (which later grew into BCL.com.au)

Environment, Sustainability, and Climate Change – there is no debate over climate change. It’s happening and if we get our act together, we might have a chance of having a habitable planet for generations to come. This is where The Shady Lanes Project began and why I am involved in Walking as Transport and Regen Brisbane.

Politics – This is last, but never least, because you can’t talk about anything important without straying into the stuff of politics: priorities; social justice; privilege and disadvantage; accountability and ethics; inclusive and exclusive spaces; and building the sort of society we want for ourselves and our children and grandchildren. Party Politics and politics are not the same thing.

I am a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors