This guy is a one-off. No one likes anything like him. Wrote. Sorry. He killed himself in 1984. At the time of his death he was not well regarded by critics and the book-buying public. Now people are starting to realise what the world lost then.

I doubt there are many people who could name even one Australian composer, even Percy Granger and Malcolm Williamson tend to get lumped in with the Brits. Anyway, one day I decided to investigate the music of Australia and discovered their greatest living composer. More people should hear this guy's music.

What impresses me most about this man is his persistence; he refuses to go away. Since he began he has doggedly produced work, year after year, films, plays, books, no matter what was going on in his personal life. Granted, not everything is a work of genius but even a genius has to pay the bills.

There are certain snippets of music that just keep popping up, James Horner's great score to Aliens for example. Clint Mansell's driving score to Requiem for a Dream is another. There is simply not enough of his music available.

Not all writers are crazy and not all loonies are writers. God alone knows where exactly Philip K Dick lands. His biography makes very interesting reading that's all I can say. I still think he is underrated despite the success of the film adaptations. The big question is whether he would have been a greater writer without all the craziness or would that have left him just an ordinary Joe?

Meaning is over-rated if you ask me. I don't know what Magritte's paintings mean any more than I know what the music of Charles Ives means. I know I like what I see. It makes me feel good, so there's an emotional response if not an intellectual one. And I don't see that as bad.