![Tom Petty performs at the "Heineken Amsterjam" concert in New York in August, 2006.](http://web.archive.org./web/20171003233656im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/y/t/f/y/6/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gytg0p.png/1507031133409.jpg)
One of the most durable, distinctive presences in rock
An encounter with rock star Elvis Presley was a defining moment of Tom Petty's childhood.
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An encounter with rock star Elvis Presley was a defining moment of Tom Petty's childhood.
For 40 years, Joe Bowen worked in the family business of moving houses - 3000 of them.
Umpire Graham Carbery was the victim of one of football's most notorious incidents, but away from the headlines he lived a quiet life documenting the history of Australia's gay movements.
In the words of one of her child patients, Joyce Alley "helped to unlock and set free the precious gift of speech and joyful song in many young voices".
Rosemary Balmford, the first woman appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, was an inspirational role model for women in the legal profession.
The first woman in a wheelchair to teach in a classroom.
Doug Radcliffe was involved in the making of The Dam Busters (1955), working on the bouncing bomb visual effects.
Tony Booth, the actor, who has died aged 85, was best known as the abrasive "Scouse git" of a son-in-law who got under Alf Garnett's skin in the BBC comedy series Till Death Us Do Part; in later life he sometimes performed the same function for his real-life son-in-law, the former prime minister Tony Blair. Booth, who had more than a little in common with his most famous television character, spent most of his career pursuing what he described as "boozing, arguing and crumpeteering". A heavy drinker, he once mistook the prime minister of Luxembourg for a wine waiter at a party given by Harold Wilson. Booth told the visiting politician to "make himself useful" by filling the empty glasses. "I'll say this for the guy," Booth recalled. "He came back with two full glasses. He had style."
Liliane Bettencourt grew up in a cocoon of privilege and secrets.
Jake LaMotta, Lilliane Bettencourt, Lilian Ross,
There weren't many places Joel Peterson hadn't been – at least that's the way it seemed. His work as a cinematographer took him from cities such as New York and London – to visit the Queen no less – to far-flung villages where few outsiders venture.
Lady Fairfax: Her motto, she said, was "touch every life with good".
Harry Dean Stanton, the shambling, craggy-faced character actor with the deadpan voice who became a cult favourite through his memorable turns in Repo Man, Big Love and many other films and TV shows, died September 15 at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 91.
Migrant and campaigner who helped create the capital's unique voting system.
Frank Vincent, Maurice Bluestein, Louise Hay
On the day of the 2015 ruling, Edith Windsor gave a celebratory party. "I'm thrilled, I'm absolutely thrilled," she told The New Yorker as guests crowded her apartment.
A casual conversation in Sydney between two actors, one famous, the other on the brink of fame, changed everything for the ballet dancer, Tamara Tchinarova.
Before Yves Saint Laurent died of brain cancer, aged 71, a deathbed ceremony made him and Bergé civil partners under the law.
There are in fact three things in life that are certain. Along with death and taxes is the inescapable fact that your mum loves Don Williams.
Becker, always an intimidating interviewee, described his style of humour as "dense, rye-bread, cynical, wise-ass New Yorker".
Cockerill earned the one thing he most desired from his peers and those who shared his passion for football. Respect.
Despite her own deafness, Elena Down became a leading legal expert in developing agreements safeguarding the rights of disabled people.
When ABC management decided to retrench presenter Clive Stark in 1993, they weren't prepared for the deluge of protests from his loyal listeners.
When Margaret Henderson won a place at university in the 1930s, her father decided medicine was the most likely profession to offer her parity with men.
Ben Kelly, an Irish-born migrant who spent many years of hard work in quarries, was not the usual type of person to inspire a monumental piece of public sculpture.
Hotelier Ralph Sierakowski realised that the days of the "six o'clock swill" had to end, and his vision helped to usher in a new era of professionalism in the industry of providing food and drink.
Sonny Burgess, Professor Dame Margaret Turner-Warwick, Jack Perry
Alan Root, a wildlife filmmaker who splashed through crocodile-infested rivers, piloted hot-air balloons over stampeding wildebeests and lost a "Coke bottle"-sized chunk of his calf to an angry hippopotamus, all while producing nearly two dozen acclaimed nature documentaries,has died aged 80.
War and displacement shaped the lives of many Australians. For some the past is an inescapable burden. For some it is a springboard into defiance, a reminder to not be crushed by adversity, that setbacks can be conquered.
Tobe Hooper, the film director, who has died aged 74, captivated and horrified audiences with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a 1974 sleeper hit that, as one critic put it, "did for motorised wood-cutting tools what Jaws did for sharks".
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