Mr Chips

Lizzie Eastham and Sam Rickard present Studio 1 - Vision Australia Radio’s weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view. 

On this week’s show 

“Mr Chips” 

Children's Author, David Burston (AKA Mr Chips) talks to Lizzie and Sam about his adventures out at sea and working as an IT adviser at a local school in the mid-1990s – and how these experiences affected his writing.   

Studio 1 welcomes any input from our listeners. If you have any experience or thoughts about issues covered in this episode or believe there is something we should be talking about.   

You may also be interested in joining our choir of angels and telling your story. 

EMAIL: [e-mail] or leave comment on the station’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VARadioNetwork 

A special thank you to David, you can hear more from him next week when we bring you “Another Very Studio 1 Christmas”  

You can find David’s books on most popular retail sites including Amazon; Andgus and Robinson, and Booktopia.  However David did mention a few other places: 

Hemlocks Book and Coffee: https://www.facebook.com/hemlocksbooks/  

Evan’s head Infomration Centre: https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/north-coast/lismore-area/evans-head/visitor-information-centres/evans-head-visitor-information-centre  

Balina Book Warehouse: https://bal1.circlepos.com/  

This program was made possible with support from the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at https://cbf.org.au/ 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

S1 (00:14):
This is Studio One with Sam Rickard and Lizzie Eastham
on Vision Australia radio.

S2 (00:24):
Hello, I'm Sam and I'm Lizzie and this is Studio One,
your weekly look at life from a low vision and
blind point of view here on Vision Australia Radio.

S3 (00:32):
This week we're joined by Mr. Chips himself.

S2 (00:35):
Children's author David Burston talks about his many adventures, both
out at sea and in the classroom, and how it
all turned into a series of books starring Dave the Decky.

S3 (00:45):
As we always say at this point, please do get
in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of
any of the issues covered on this week's episode of
Studio One, or if you think there's something we should
be talking about. You never know. Your story and insight
may help someone who's dealing with something similar.

S2 (01:00):
Please contact us via email. Studio one at Vision Australia.
That's studio number one at Vision Australia. Org.

S3 (01:06):
Or of course, you can drop us a note on
our Facebook page by going to facebook.com Slash Radio Network.

S2 (01:13):
Joining us today is children's author David Burstein, otherwise known
as Mr. Chips. How're you going, David?

S4 (01:19):
I'm going. Well, thank you. Well, you are a Vision Australia.

S2 (01:22):
Client, so we might as well address the elephant in
the room, as it were. Um, so you've not always
had a vision impairment? Um, maybe. Tell us how that
all got started.

S4 (01:32):
Well, when I was young, I always struggled at night,
you know, walking around at night because it was. I
had night blindness and I didn't know as a child.
And then when I got a bit older, um, I
struggled with vision stuff. And then, um, my wife was
a bit concerned about the situation with my vision. So
we went and seen an eye specialist, and, um, I

(01:56):
would find out that I had chloremia. But really now
it's not Chloremia PP, it's just chloremia.

S2 (02:05):
So we've known a lot of people with PP, and
so that yours sounds different. Is it is it is
it a later onset, for example?

S4 (02:14):
Uh, basically, you still have the limited vision, like tunnel
vision and night blindness. So it's basically the same as
retinitis pigmentosa. But the retinitis pigmentosa affects one gene, whereas
choroideremia affects the other gene. I don't really know that

(02:34):
much about the situation, but I'm hoping that the vision
doesn't degenerate to nothing.

S2 (02:42):
Right. Where are you at at the moment? I mean,
you're looking at down the camera at the moment, so
you've obviously got some degree of vision left right now.

S4 (02:49):
Yeah. Well, um, I've got, uh, tunnel vision, um, and
in one eye I've got a scar tissue. So in
one eye, my vision is really, really bad. And in
the other eye, I can still get out and walk
around or get around. All right.

S2 (03:06):
What I've noticed with a lot of people with tunnel
vision is the range is actually perfectly fine. So in theory,
if I wanted to know what a street sign said.
If I point your head in the right direction, you'd
be able to tell me what what it was.

S4 (03:18):
What I say to people is I have toilet roll vision.
In other words, if you're looking down a toilet roll,
that's sort of my vision situation, like a tunnel.

S2 (03:27):
So you haven't always had this condition and what you
had before that was well and what you still have now,
but was an interesting life. So maybe tell us a
bit what you did in your younger days, because that
kind of fits into what you're doing now.

S4 (03:41):
Uh, well, when I was younger, before I realized the
vision issue, I worked in different. I worked in a
steelworks operating big machinery. I worked in a timber mill,
operating machinery. I then I worked on a prawn trawler
off Bribie Island. And that was like, every night was

(04:01):
like an adventure. It was. It wasn't like I was
going to work. It was like I was going on
an adventure. But the bonus was I was getting paid
for it. And also I got to eat lots of
fresh seafood.

S2 (04:15):
So you've later build those up to a series of books. Um,
I presume you've got enough material to last for an entire, um,
epic there?

S4 (04:25):
Yes. Well, I've got two more stories already typed up
on my computer. One's called The Night of the storm,
and the other one's called the Big Shell.

S3 (04:35):
So you eventually, uh, stopped working on the prawn trawler
and became a IT guy out of school. What made
you decide to quit the fishing industry?

S4 (04:48):
Well, at the time, I was living on Bribie Island
and my girlfriend, future wife, was living on the south
coast of New South Wales. And I knew that I
could get a job back down in New South Wales,
where she might not be able to get a job
up where I am, and also working all night and

(05:10):
then sleeping all day isn't really a good way to
start a relationship. So I left the trawler and went
back down south and worked in the timber mill again.
And then after a while, we moved up north to
the far north coast, where I ended up doing a
TAFE course, and then children came along and then, um,

(05:31):
I was just taking my daughter to school, and when
I was picking her up in the afternoon, I was
standing outside the computer room and a class came in
and it was just it was a bit of a mess.
It was back before there was technical support in schools.
So I just said to the office, lady, we'd like
you to come in and, um, sort the computer room out.

(05:52):
And they just were so excited that there was a
parent willing to volunteer and do that. And that's where
the journey began. I started as a parent volunteer, just
fixing up their computer lab, and then the first ETI
for old rollout came out, which was a Pentium 100,
and they asked me if I wanted a day's pay
to set it up. And Here I am, 20 something

(06:15):
years later. I worked in schools for over 20 years.

S2 (06:17):
So around about what year was this we're talking about?

S4 (06:19):
When I first started, 1998, I think it was.

S2 (06:24):
Oh, the memories. The internet was just such a young thing.
And computers, it was so.

S4 (06:29):
Much simpler to meet in the in the school where
I was at. They had no internet, the office had internet,
but the actual computer room didn't really have internet. They
just had CD-ROMs that they used, like living books, and
they typed stories and they had, uh, interactive CD ROMs and, um, yeah,

(06:52):
but it was before the internet, before networks. It was
just a lot of fun.

S2 (06:57):
What were the challenges, though, of actually teaching in those times?
I mean, were there anything that would stand out to you,
that would where you would look now and go, gee,
it's so much easier.

S4 (07:07):
It's hard to say because in some ways technology is
such a big part of Schools now compared to when
I started. And, um, they still do lessons without the
computers and without technology. But there's an awful lot of technology.
Every classroom has got a a smartboard or interactive screen that,

(07:29):
that they don't use a blackboard. They have a big
interactive screen. And so the teacher can play a video
file that covers their lesson and they can discuss the
video file. Then they can type up a report on
what they've learned from the video and the discussion. Whereas

(07:50):
before there was no screen. So it was just more
reading books, uh, sometimes watching old videos. Um, so technology
has improved schools learning and made it more interesting for
the generations that are out there.

S3 (08:07):
Now, there is a question that has been pressing on
me for the last couple of days, and I need
to ask, in your biography. You said that in your
little blurb that you sent us. Sorry. You said that
the kids started calling you Mr. Chips. Why, Mr. chips?

S4 (08:21):
Uh, well, inside of computers, there's computer chips. There's also
a movie about a schoolteacher called, uh, Mr. Chips or farewell,
Mister Chips or something. And I got nicknamed by one
of the teachers because the kids were calling me Mr. Pooter.
And the teacher said, pretty soon they're going to shorten that.

(08:42):
We better do something about it, because they would have
been calling me Mr. Poo. So the teacher. Because inside
the computers are chips. And also there's a movie about
a person who was a teacher and his name was Mr. Chips.
So I got nicknamed Mr. Chips and it it just stuck.

S3 (09:02):
I was kind of hoping it was because you liked
to eat hot chips at lunchtime or something like that, but. Ah,
no such luck.

S4 (09:09):
Um, yes, I did used to like chips a lunchtime.

S3 (09:13):
That's good.

S2 (09:14):
Well, you've been able to, uh, interact with the kids and, well, uh,
influence them in a in a lot of ways. And
right there at the start, when computers were just starting
to become a thing.

S4 (09:27):
Yes. That's right, I, I started volunteering, uh, at a
school when there was no, uh, there was support for computers,
but not as much as there is nowadays. Like we
didn't used to get visits from the the regional technical

(09:47):
support team because we were just a small school, the
big city schools, they they had more technical support with them.
But the little country schools didn't really have much. But
as the years went on, it grew and grew and grew.

S2 (10:01):
So let's move on to what you're doing now. And, um,
apart from writing children's books, what else are you doing now?

S4 (10:08):
Uh, well, I'm volunteering at the local, uh, living museum.
They respect my abilities and my skills that I can
offer at the museum. I've come up with an idea
of creating a a little activity book. The kids get
an activity book when they come to the museum, and
it's called Evans Head Living Museum. Seek and Find. And

(10:32):
they've got to go through the museum, read the little
booklet and find the things in the museum and learn
about it. Actually helps them to learn about the items
in the museum, and also helps them to look around
and find interesting things. And then if they complete the mission,
they get a sticker badge before they leave. And that's
an idea that I came up with.

S2 (10:53):
One of the beauties of volunteering, but also working with
people who, um, are open minded is that, yes, they
may initially see a disability, but they eventually do see
past it, if anything. And if you're lucky, they forget
that you have it in the first place. I mean,
does anything I'm saying here ring a bell to you?

S4 (11:12):
Well, I felt, um, that the people when I first
started there, the people were like. As I explained straight up,
I say, look, I've got a visual challenge. Like when
I walk in this room because it's dark. It's like
walking into a really, really dark room I can't really see.
It takes a while for my eyes to focus. And

(11:33):
they were very understanding and very supportive and very encouraging
and not making me feel uncomfortable. They just made me
feel that it was alright. Take your time. It's alright. Just,
you know, do whatever you want, just take your time.
And um, yeah, they were very supportive in that way
and I felt very comfortable being there with the people that, um,

(11:56):
you know, like because they really appreciated my technology skills
and also the ideas that I had. And then a
year or so ago, um, they had a, a celebratory, uh, fisherman, like,
it was a thing where they were Focusing on the
history of the fishing fleet. So I was there as

(12:19):
an item, talking about my books and selling them to people.
So because my book is a fishing book, the same
as any story, any fishing boat would have similar stories
that I had. So I sort of like slept in,
I slept in, and they were very happy with what
I brought to the presentation. And also every book that

(12:42):
I sold, I donated money to the museum and they
were very grateful for that.

S2 (12:46):
And you've brought us in quite nicely to what I
wanted to talk about next anyway, which is your books.
What got you started in writing children's books?

S4 (12:54):
Well, I knew that my time working in schools was
starting to dwindle, and, um, I always thought that I
was going to write a book because my mum one
time read a book but never published it. So I
was going to write a book and publish it. And, um,
I started writing the most exciting part of my life

(13:14):
was when I was a deckhand, because that was pretty amazing,
being a deckhand going out at sea. So I started
by just writing about that, and someone read it and said,
that'll make a great kid's book. And I went, oh, really?
And that's where the journey. When I thought about it,
I thought, well, it'd be nice to have a kids
book that I can give to my kids, which they

(13:37):
can give to their grandkids. And also, it's pretty special
to me that I'm writing it for my children. Uh,
even though they're grown up. But I, I feel that
it shows them a bit more of their, their dad.
You know, like they're learning something more about me.

S2 (13:56):
Now, some people might say that writing a kid's book
would seem easier, but if you talk to any children's authors,
it's actually a lot harder.

S4 (14:03):
I, I can't really agree with that. I found it
very enjoyable. And reliving the moment, like reliving that excitement
and And remembering bits and pieces that I'd forgotten about
as I was writing the story and thinking, focusing on
that time in my life. And I found it very

(14:24):
enjoyable and rewarding, you know, reliving that part of my life.
Because working on a prawn trawler fishing boat and going
out at sea, it's just like some of the things
you see. The sun rises, the sun sets, the wild seas,
the calm seas, the water that looks like a flat

(14:46):
glass mirror. You know, it was just amazing. And I
found it really enjoyable writing the stories. So yeah, the
hard part is writing the story for me was the
fun part. The enjoyable part. But getting the book edited,
published illustrations, working out how to promote it, how to

(15:07):
distribute it and all that. Sort of because I've now
started self-publishing my story, so I'm trying to learn all
that sort of stuff and I find that hard but
enjoyable as well.

S3 (15:18):
You weren't always, uh, self-published, were you? You had a
couple of publishers to begin with. Is that right?

S4 (15:24):
Yes. And both of the publishers, um, I'm not going
to speak negative, but both of them, they hit rough
seas and they sank. So I ended up having to
recover all my data files, uh, which I was able
to do with the support of Facebook groups and people
that were affected as well by the publishers. So I
was able to recover all my data, and then I

(15:46):
was able to learn how to self-publish it and buying
ISBN numbers, getting in touch with the people that have
got my book that was published by that publisher. Uh,
can you just stop that one is no longer available.
Can you replace that one with this one with this
ISBN number and all that sort of stuff was a
learning experience.

S3 (16:06):
Now, of course, uh, pictures are probably some of the
most important part of a kid's book. How did you
go about finding an illustrator?

S4 (16:14):
Well, I didn't find an illustrator. The publisher found the
illustrator and the publisher of the second book. They found
the illustrator. So the book was created and I owned
the rights to that book. So all the illustrations, all
the editing, it was all done. So basically I just
had to remarket it. But as me as the publisher

(16:39):
and I didn't have to actually find illustrators, the publishing
company found illustrator.

S2 (16:44):
So moving forward though. What does that mean? If you're
publishing new stuff about finding, say, illustrators and things like that,
if you've got people in mind.

S4 (16:51):
Well, um, I've got a couple of people in mind,
maybe approaching the the illustrator that did the first book artwork,
or maybe get in touch with this other person I've
connected with through Facebook that used to work for the publisher. Um, definitely.
I'm not going, I, I reckon I want to share

(17:15):
my story with an artist to do the artwork for
my book. So I've got I've got a few different ideas,
but at this stage, um, I need to start selling
some copies so that I can pay for the illustrations,
because that costs a lot of money.

S2 (17:30):
Well, maybe you can tell us a bit about the
books that have already have been published and that you
are working on now. So maybe start with the first
two books. What's the storyline? And, uh, and what were
the inspirations?

S4 (17:39):
Well, the first book, I was trying to think of
something once the person told me that that would make
a good story. Then I started to think, well, what's
a good story that kids would like? And I thought.
So then I remembered a time where we caught a
shark in the net. We knew there was something big

(18:00):
in the net, and when I opened the net, this
shark came out and it was like, say, three feet
in front of me and I've got the net open
and like, I'm just holding the net going. It's a,
it's a shark. And the skipper saying, just scientist. Hurry
up and throw it back in the sea. Get the
net back in the sea. And then, um. Next thing
you know, the sharks bounced off the sorting tray, and

(18:22):
it's on the deck, bouncing around at my feet. And
so I'm throwing the net back in the sea, and
the skipper's just telling me to hurry up and throw
the net back in the sea. And the sharks bouncing
around at my feet. So that's how the the story
of the shark in the net came about, because, um,
I thought that's the best thing that kids would like.
And the kids do like the shark in the net.

(18:44):
They do like the idea of a shark in the net.

S2 (18:46):
Also, sometimes kids like being a little bit scared of
something as well.

S4 (18:49):
Yeah, they do like a bit of, um, action and
scary stuff. Another thing that I was trying to do
with my stories was I worked in the library in, um,
a couple of schools. That's where I was based as
the IT support person, and there was so many books,
and they're based on fantasy and Make Believe and fish

(19:13):
that talk and not real stories. And I thought that
needs to be more real stories with real adventures. And
that's why I thought that the shark was it's a
real story and it's a real adventure. It really did happen.
And that's the the second book is The Secret Spot. Well,
on a boat, there's always a spot. The skipper will

(19:36):
call it a hot spot or a top spot, where
every time he goes there, he gets a good catch.
So I thought the secret spot was a good idea
for a title of a story. And also the adventure
of going out to sea and the things you see
when you're going out to sea and the things you
catch in the net. And the secret spot also teaches

(19:59):
a lesson that it's not only about what you catch
and keep, it's what you let go. Now you've got
to be very mindful that the longer the fish are
on the boat, the less chance they have of surviving.
So you sort the catch quick and you get the
things that aren't supposed to be caught back in the sea.

(20:20):
Quick like the turtle, you know, like as soon as
the turtles on the deck, you forget about the the
catch that needs to be sorted. The first thing you're
thinking about is getting that turtle back into the sea.

S2 (20:30):
It's a nice thought.

S4 (20:31):
Yeah.

S2 (20:32):
Moving along, you've got a few other, um, books in
the works. Maybe you can tell us a little bit
about those.

S4 (20:36):
Well, at the moment I've got a book and it's
a little book. It's a small size book and it's
a very simple story. I've called it the Dave, the
Dickie Little Reader, and it's for all the little readers
that are out there learning to read, and that includes
my grandson. And, um, it's just a simple quick story

(21:00):
with a nice pictures. So it's got a nice story, nice,
simple story with pictures to match. And then at the
back of the book you've got an activity. Because when
I was a kid, I was much of a book reader.
So all the books that I've created, I've also made
them so that you learn something. And also there's something

(21:21):
to do, like the first book. At the end of
the book, you realize that there was a mr. chips
fish in the story. So you have to go back
through the book and find the Mr. Chips fish. And
the second book has Mr. Chips fish in it as well.
And the third book has a mr. fish chips, a mr.
chips fish hidden in it too. And at the moment

(21:44):
I've got two other stories. One of them I'm working
on is called the The Sacred Place, and it will
connect with, um, the Aboriginal, indigenous, uh, side of sacred places.
I haven't really worked out how to do the story
because I have to get I've got permission of some
Aboriginal people I know, but before I can actually do

(22:07):
that story, I'll have to get someone to actually be
a part of it. That is Aboriginal Australian person to
collaborate with me and make sure that I get the story,
how they would like it to be told from my experiences,
but including their, uh, situation, if you know what I'm saying.
I start to explain what I'm trying to say. But yeah.

S2 (22:29):
It sounds like you're coming from a place of respect,
both for nature and for other people when it comes
down to telling stories.

S4 (22:36):
Yeah, that's important to me. I must admit, when I
was a fisherman, I wasn't as aware. And as I've
grown older and learned more, I realise the importance of
the environment and fishermen, how they look after the environment.
You know, especially these days. They're very aware of their catch. And,

(23:01):
you know, and also in my life I've, I've got
know a fair few, um, Aboriginal people and I've learnt
a lot from them about Culture and from my own
personal experiences, respecting people, you know, like respecting all people,
all cultures, we've all got something to offer. And that's,

(23:24):
I think, a very important thing.

S2 (23:26):
So one one thing that, of course, dawned on me is, yes,
I've been aboard fishing boats myself, and some of the
authentic dialogue clearly would not have made it through to
the children's books.

S4 (23:34):
Yes, you're right there.

S2 (23:36):
Otherwise you'd maybe change the words, I don't know. Um. Oh, Fras,
said Mr. So-and-so.

S4 (23:41):
Yeah, yeah. Uh, when I was young, my my dad
told me when I was a kid and we were
brought up that, um, people that swear don't have the
intelligence to use the correct words. Um, that was what
my dad said. And, um, I don't 100% agree with that,
because sometimes you just get so worked up and you just, uh. Yeah,

(24:05):
we won't go into the in depth conversation about that.
But yeah.

S2 (24:09):
I'm more than happy to do that because if you
use a word too much, sometimes it loses its meaning.
So the F word I've got a particular something for
because it's a very effective word if you use it
like the f bomb. So you pull the pull the
pin out and throw it at somebody, and if it has,
it's very effective. But if it's the every second word
you use, it suddenly just becomes another word.

S4 (24:31):
And also the thing is, like what my dad said
is quite true. Like sometimes people use the f word
or the s word or the C word because they
can't think of what to say at that moment. They're
in a pressured moment, emotional pressured moment, and they go, ah,
far out Brussels sprout, you know, instead of yeah, but yeah,

(24:56):
it's becoming a more and more a part of everyday conversation.
And when I was a child, that was it wasn't
really allowed. It wasn't tolerated. Whereas these days you can
be sitting in a restaurant and there'll be someone talking
and they're using, uh, all the interesting words that they
can in the conversation.

S2 (25:15):
If anyone's listening to this and we're coming up to Christmas, uh,
it's dangerously close. And they think, you know what? I
like the sound of some of these books. Where can
they find them?

S4 (25:26):
Well, that's part of the issue that I'm learning at
the moment, because I've just learned how to self-publish. Now
I'm learning how to distribute, uh, promote and stuff. If
you Google Dave the Dickey, it'll come up. All of
my three books will come up in your search results,
and you'll be able to buy them from those places.

(25:47):
But I've been very lucky. There's a coffee shop at Woodburn, uh,
Hemlocks Coffee, a bookstore. They've been really wonderful and supported me.
And they've got the three of my books in their store.
The Evans had information center. They've got copies of my books, uh,
down in a book warehouse. They've got copies of my books.

(26:10):
So locally, they're available. They're around the place for sale.
But on the internet, everything's available on the internet. But,
you know, maybe I should just say my email, and
people can email me and I can sign it and
send it directly if you'd like.

S2 (26:25):
What we're going to do is we include as much
information as we can in the podcast notes, and we'll
take it from there anyway. Yeah. Mr. chips. David, thank
you so much for joining us. It's been a pleasure.

S4 (26:35):
Thank you for talking and listening. And yeah, I hope
this show brings a bit of a smile to someone's
style and shows my style.

S3 (26:46):
I love.

S2 (26:47):
It. That's a wrap for this week. A big thank
you to David Burston for a, well, a really fun chat.
It was fun chat wasn't it?

S3 (26:53):
It was. And of course, thank you for listening. That
includes our listeners on the Reading Radio Network.

S2 (27:00):
You can find the podcast of this program, including some
extra content on Apple, Spotify, Google or your favorite podcast platform.

S3 (27:07):
Next week is Christmas Eve, so we'll be back for
another very studio one Christmas.

S2 (27:12):
We tackle tough topics such as what is your favourite
Christmas movie? When do you know it's Christmas? And most importantly,
were the reindeers in Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer? Nothing but
a bunch of cowardly bullies.

S3 (27:24):
But between now and then, please do get in touch
with us. Whether you have experience with any of the
issues covered in this week's episode of Studio One, or
if you think there's something we should be talking about.
You never know. Your story and insight may help someone
who's dealing with something similar.

S2 (27:38):
You can reach us via Email Studio one at org,
that's studio One at org.

S3 (27:44):
Or of course, you can find us on Facebook or
Instagram by searching for VA Radio Network. Except for if
you're under 16, you won't be able to find us anymore.

S2 (27:53):
Unfortunately, yes. Tell Rudolph about it.

S1 (27:56):
Studio one was produced in the Adelaide studios of Vision
Australia Radio. This show was made possible with the help
of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at.