At school I struggled with spelling. Dyslexia was the problem. Nobody could help, so all the teachers suggested I do something unrelated to writing instead.

I have been drawing cartoons for about four decades and writing about the history of Australian cartooning for about three. As writing takes over, I find myself becoming more engrossed in the history of cartooning.

I had started cartooning while at Peakhurts Primary School and continued at East Hills High. In my final year at high school, there was an exhibition of art work by students. I ended up filling about half the wall space.

Getting a job as a copy boy in an art department was a suggestion of a neighbour to one of my aunties who worked at the Sydney Morning Herald. She thought I might fit into a newspaper art department. I gave up cartooning after I started work at the Daily Telegraph. It was another 15 years before I started again.

I was working at The Bulletin and Alan Moir suggest I should draw my own cartoons instead of bothering him with ideas he did not need. About that time, I also started to write about the history of Australian cartooning at The Bulletin too.

I can’t imagine not being involved in either writing or art. When I am not creating something, I am thinking about what I should create. I am 70 now and think I am just starting to understand what I am trying to do, I hope I work it out soon!

Copyright is part of what people own when they produce something. They might spend years on it and while there is joy in creating something, there is often very little money. Given money is important so you can keep on creating, it is nice to know copyright is there to protect what you have done. Without copyright, few people would be able to spend time creating and without that, I think the world would not be as culturally rich and interesting.