I will never forget you Geoff and miss you very much

I first met Geoff Pike in the very early ‘80s. He was working as an advertising Creative Director for Peter Alsford at his company, Adrenalin. I had a small, aspiring film company in Adelaide at that time. We made an Elizabeth Arden TV commercial for Adrenalin and it turned out pretty well. Over the following years we did quite a lot of work for Peter’s company, and all of that work was with Geoff as Creative Director. I got to know him well during this period and discovered that he was a prodigious and eclectic talent. He could write, draw, paint, compose music and all to an extremely high standard. He could also fight, swear, drink and occasionally be a spectacular pain-in-the-arse. He wrote a film script which was loosely based on his time as a teenager training for the Navy. I showed it to one of the leading lights in the film industry in Australia and we both agreed that it was the best Australian script we had read. It was however, pretty bleak and never got into production.

After Geoff left Adrenalin our friendship continued. We met occasionally at the Blues Point Hotel, drank plenty of Guiness and the conversation was always great. Around this time I separated from my first wife of about 17 years. I was pretty unhappy, but Geoff remained a loyal friend, listening to me pour out my grief over a pot or two. Thanks in no small measure to him, I recovered my perspective and eventually met Anna, whom I’ve been with for 23 years. Together we have produced three fine children, adding the two I already had.

When our oldest son was four and a half years old he was diagnosed with leukaemia. It was devastating. We got all the best doctors of course but I also turned to Geoff who had beaten his own cancer with both conventional therapy and Chi Kung. He came straight over and offered to be little Celso’s “Sifu” or Master and to train him in the arts of Chi Kung. He paid very close attention to Celso over the next few years. He designed a program for us which we undertook together each morning at sunrise, Celso attended a Kung Fu school (eventually getting his black belt) and Geoff gave him his own red sash that he was presented with back in the Asia many years before. All this was a great fantasy for young Celso. It gave him something to focus on but also taught him some discipline which has served him well ever since. I have no idea whether the exercises Geoff gave us, the letters he wrote to Celso and the affection he offered made the slightest difference - but the fact is that Celso recovered completely and was a model patient. Today he’s nearly 23 and an outstanding student of Engineering and Science at USyd. Geoff also gave us a beautiful statue of the Goddess of Mercy Kwan Yun. His instructions were to place here in a quiet corner where she could look over us all and protect us. She still maintains that position.

As Celso grew Geoff and I stayed close and it became my turn to hear his “girl troubles” when he separated from his wife. Unfortunately his health was also in decline and he made me his “Enduring Guardian” to make health decisions for him should he ultimately be unable to. He made it very clear that he did not want to linger.

As his health declined he had to be moved a number of times from one care institution to another. Peter Alsford was back in his life and was a tremendous help to him at this time.

Eventually he became extremely sick with pneumonia and the doctors and I decided that he should be “let go” peacefully. And he did go peacefully with his wife, whom he loved until the very end, at his side, along with Pete.

He had let me know that he wanted to be buried at sea so a few of his old mates joined me some weeks later. We steamed out through the heads into the great Pacific Ocean, had a few beers, told stories and then cast his ashes back into the sea. I’m pretty sure he would have liked the way we did it.

Geoffrey was a big character from the pages of his own books. He was complex, brilliant, kind, occasionally difficult but always generous - a contributor. I feel very privileged to have known him and to have been his friend.