Speakola S1E44 with Andrew Rule
My podcast is back for a fourth year, and the first guest is Walkley winning journalist and co-author of Underbelly series, Andrew Rule. We talked about his eulogy for his father, Keith Rule.
When I started Speakola in 2015, I put out the word that I was chasing great eulogies to get the site going. A few friends who worked at The Age recommended Andrew Rule’s obituary to his father, Keith, which ran in the newspaper in June, 1998 and which he read at the funeral. It’s called ‘Solomon in a singlet’, and it’s emotional and evocative and you can practically smell the eucalypts of Gippsland and imagine the childhood Andrew lived with his bushman do-anything father.
There is no audio of the actual eulogy, which was a stumbling block for a while in getting Andrew Rule on the podcast, but two weeks ago he read the text for me, and it’s just wonderful. If you just want to hear the eulogy (as opposed to full episode) listen here:
I’ll also add the transcript below for paid subscribers.
I love making the Speakola podcast and have had some wonderful guests— Neil Kinnock, Stan Grant, John Safran, Anna Quindlen, Nelly Thomas, John Doyle, Don Watson, Peter Malinauskas, Laura Lexx, Andrew Denton to name a few (all episodes here). The format of the show is to speak to someone about a speech, and then play the speech. Please subscribe if interested and new episodes will drop into your feed. Next week’s interview is with Julia Gillard’s speechwriter, Michael Cooney. Speakola also has its own substack newsletter. If you’re a paid subscriber here at Good one, Wilson, reply to this email with ‘Speakola comp’ in the subject line and I’ll gift you six months free over there1.
Andrew Rule’s episode has already had 1100 downloads which makes it the most popular episode since 2021.
We actually did a ‘pod swap’ on the afternoon we met up to record the show. Andrew came on Speakola, and I went on his podcast, ‘Life and Crimes with Andrew Rule’. The topic was rogues and bad boys in VFL/AFL footy under the title ‘Black Sheep in Footy Boots’. Not every story is about criminality, and some border on scuttlebutt. There are yarns involving the late Fred Cook, Dipper, Big Nick, and my favourite from Andrew which involves Carlton’s cleanskin legend Mike Fitzpatrick, his conservative mum, some teapots, and Jason Moran’s grandfather.
Those two episodes are below:
Thanks again for coming on Speakola, Andrew. Extra thanks for becoming a paid subscriber to Good one, Wilson.
The transcript of the eulogy is below.
For Keith Rule: 'Solomon in a singlet', Andrew Rule - 1998
27 June, 1998, Lake Tyers, Victoria, Australia
The morning after we got the news, I went out to your woodheap. There was that big old axe you used in the bush all those years ago, just as you'd left it, stuck in the chopping block like a signature. I split wood until the memories and the tears came flooding in. Then I dropped the axe back in the block, nose down, handle sticking up, as neat as you please. Just like you would, Dad.
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