We call him Sam...but maybe it should be Cath & Sam

Well deserved for a very special pair Sam and Cath
Sam and I met in 1964 in year five at SGS prep in St Ives and were friends from the start. After more than 40 years Julia and I had a very pleasant evening with Cath and Sam in Port Douglas - real friendships last the test of time.

Great Tribute
Sam and Cath, really appreciated.Looking forward to the next reunion and seeing all those school mates.

Thanks Sam & Cath
A great tribute David, well done it is well deserved and probably long overdue. The Sam story is a great one, he is a man admired by his peers for all the qualities and the enthusiasm that you have recognised and chronicled. You are right to observe that our regular reunions are down to Sam, except we were very lucky that Cath chose well, trusted her judgement for without this duo as a team I suspect reunions may have suffered. Thanks Sam & Cath, love your work, appreciate your efforts and I look forward to catching up again soon. My best wishes to you both and also to you David until that day. Warmest wishes Graham.

Sam
Hi David, I very much enjoyed reading your dedication to Sam. Yes, the OSU organises many wonderful reunions but Sam went that extra yard to keep the association close for those that wished to meet on a more regular basis. I loved the cricket story about Sam holding up one end ala Boycott. Sorry to hear Sam is not in the best of health but pleased that he is being looked after by such a wonderful carer and life partner. Trust you are well and still travelling and enjoying those “less travelled roads”. Cheers, Geoff Simmons

Beautiful Tribute
Very nice read that tugs at the heartstrings, beautiful.

Tribute to our good friend
Hi David Your tribute to our good friend Sam really encapsulates Sam’s generosity of spirit and his huge heart filled with kindness and consideration for others. And then there is his wonderful soulmate Cath. A perfect match. Thank you Dave for bringing it all together. Kind regards Chris

A special man
Sam is a special man as per the tributes – no doubt, and well supported by the lovely Cath. Also – just a reminder – a few of the lads are getting together this Sunday 11th Feb at the London Pub at Paddo at 12 noon for a few drinkies, as arranged by Mark Mawson. The first 3 confirmed attendees were Mawson, Rigg and Watson-Munro so I initially thought it was reunion for “naughty boys only”, but all are welcome. Even the teachers’ pets.

Well deserved contribution to our mate Sam
Thank you “Dancing Dave” Hooper for taking the time to pen this timely and well deserved contribution to our mate Sam. I have been fortunate to have remained in fairly regular contact with Sam over the years, aided by annual lunches at the SCG and our wives being in the same profession (infection control nurses). Sam I am sure you will pull thru this latest setback and be back as good as ever Ian Rewell

Captured our thoughts and feelings so elequently
David, We all love and respect Sam for who he is and what he has done over the years, but your story, so elequently told, summarises what we all feel about Sam but didn’t have the ability to present in such an engaging, respectful and eclectic story. Thank you, Carey

Gentlemen and Mr “Justice” Lamond
After reading David Hooper's dedication to our great friend Mr “Justice” Lamond I was most concerned. Clearly as David Hooper pointed out to me when I rang him that I had not read his dedication carefully enough which is why he is a solicitor and I'm not. My concern was that our great friend had been called to sit on the celestial bench and Captain the celestial 1st 11. Naturally I'm very pleased that he is still with us although I understand that he will have to shortly pad up and face some medical bouncers. Stephen (Sam) our thoughts are with you and Cath. May I suggest that you practice the hook shot and belt them to leg and move on to your century after a well-made 60+. We all look forward to seeing you hail and hearty at the next gathering and thank you for all the work in keeping the class of 71 in some form of contact. Regards Stephen Hodgkinson

Sam is a connector
Great friends, great reunions. still love the Tureg wedding stories....that is when I first starting reading your blogs! Friendships last over miles and time. Nothing better.

The Joy of Friendship
While I don't know any of the people you mention in this blog I certainly enjoyed reading it as it's a great testament to the joy of friendship. And as I'm in the final stages of writing a biography of an Australian who died in the Somme in 1916 - who before he went to the King's School was at Sydney Grammar School - I feel I do at least have a little connection there!!