Jon Hawkes and Circus Oz

Jon Hawkes was one of my class mates at Launceston Grammar. He was the brightest kid in the class and also the youngest by a fair margin.
Mr Hawkes was an anglican cleric with an interesting series of posts – Jamaica, King Island, the Huon Valley in Southern Tasmania, Monash University. On that basis Jon gained entry to Christ College at the Uni of Tasmania. Most of the Grammar boys at uni went to CC but there was not room for everyone and I missed out. At the interview they asked me “How would you feel if you were allocated to a room with a black student?” I think I replied that it would be ok as long as he was a good Christian. Don’t ask me why I said that, it was a long time ago…Anyway I ended up at Hytten Hall which was further down the hill and a more interesting collection of people as well.
Jon Hawkes distinguished himself in CC by accumulating the largest collection of empty spirits bottles on his window sill that had ever been seen. This was byproduct of his active involvement in the university drama club and the related activities of thespians. He failed all his subjects and departed for the mainland where his father was posted to Monash. Jon worked in the bookshop and began his degree again at the more relaxed pace of one subject per annum.

Our contacts became very infrequent when I ceased to pass through Melbourne on a regular basis . He moved on to edit the Australian Rolling Stone, and he also became active in the administration of the radical theatre groups in Melbourne.
During the ’80s one of my friends bought a block of tickets to Circus Oz and he roped me into attend when someone dropped out. The circus played indoor on a stage, instead of the tradtional tent, and there were no anmals. This unplanned excursion turned out to a happy accident because the show was brilliant and, as a bonus, there was something strangely familiar about the Strongman, who also doubled as a juggler (that was typical of the multiskilling of Circus Oz). In fact it was my old friend Jon Hawkes, fitter and stronger than he had ever been at school where he had no interest or aptitude in manly outdoor games. (Though he did follow Geelong).
I caught up with him at end of the show, but only for a minute because he had to call Frankfurt or Zurich to make bookings for their European tour. In addition to being the Strongman and juggler he was also the business manager. It was that sort of crew, as you can read in his account of the origins and ethos of the wonderful adventure of Circus Oz.