Jul 17, 2023

Is this 101-year-old the oldest person in Australia to get fired?

Screenshot 2023-07-17 101843
Len has been sacked from his regular gig, possibly making him the oldest person in the country to be laid off. [Source: ABC Radio Adelaide]

Len Dixon is a 101-year-old Adelaide man who has recently had his writing career of over 50 years taken from him. 

The centenarian, who hails from England, was  Canberra Times’  bridge columnist – diligently providing his copy almost every week since 1968. 

But Len has since been sacked from his regular gig, possibly making him the oldest person in the country to be laid off. 

“I know of no older person to have gotten the sack,” Len told ABC Radio Adelaide.

Having been involved in the early days of computing, Len was one of the people who got selected to introduce information technology (IT) to the world, which saw him plant his roots in Australia. 

“In fact, but for [IT], I’d have probably never come to Australia,” he said. 

So how did his passion for IT turn into writing for a regular newspaper column? Well, it started off as a hobby during WWII. 

“I was asked to submit a sample column to the paper and the paper thought it was good enough to publish,” Len explained. And the rest was history. 

Serving in the airforce as a radar operator in England, Len was earmarked to travel to Singapore in 1942 when the ship was delayed and was stuck in Liverpool harbour for some time. 

“I bought a copy of the leading bridge book at that time which was Ely Culbertson’s golden book [Contract bridge complete; the gold book of bidding and play] and a group of us, in effect, taught ourselves bridge,” Len said.

“It’s a particularly interesting game. All sorts of people take it up – it’s a sufficiently challenging game.”

In 1965, Len was the tournament director at the inaugural Australia Day Congress which eventually became the Summer Festival of Bridge in Canberra, a major event on the Australian Bridge Federation’s annual calendar.

Learn more about Len and his history with bridge here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Disgusting Discrimination. I am 85 and still working as an RN / Teacher. What has age got to do with it?
    What happened to respect? Your turn will come!!!!

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Albanese government backtracks on 24/7 nurses for aged care promise

The Labor government’s promise that every aged care home would have at least one registered nurse on duty 24 hours a day within a year of being elected appears to have hit a significant hurdle. Read More

Isolated Australians Are Saving Thousands of Animals By Adopting

As millions of Australians settle in for another week of isolation, many of us are finding ourselves searching for new ways to relieve the monotony of staying at home. Excitement can come in a variety of different forms, but a growing number of Australian families have brought a new spark of life into their homes... Read More

Man arrested over disappearance of missing elderly couple from Victorian campsite

Police have arrested a former Jetstar pilot over the disappearance of elderly couple Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, from a Victorian National Park last year. Read More
Advertisement