For Pete’s Sake

About the Book

After entertaining troops in Vietnam and performing folk songs on Australian TV, Peter arrives in Taiwan with a handful of gigs booked and an even smaller handful of dollars. Soon, he marries the love of his life, and they plan fresh adventures in the then-British territory of Hong Kong. Whether Peter and his wife Man Ling are selling handicrafts to HK’s booming boutique scene, starting a family alongside running their own restaurant, or trying their hand at a property rental, they never lose their sense of wonder, or of gratitude for the opportunities that come their way. And in a manner that’s both surprising and inspiring for modern readers, they do it in the face of repeated setbacks and failures. Whilst raising a lively young family alongside a series of business ventures, Peter’s frank account gives a fascinating insight into times and places long since vanished. The simple rhythms of island life on Lantau, the illegal, but tolerated squatter colonies of Hong Kong (complete with their own schools and mahjong parlours and opium dens!), the surge of refugees escaping China’s Cultural Revolution, not to mention – echoing the Lancashire farming life described in Volume I – a spell spent back in the UK living close to his family in rural Cornwall. This is quite simply a wonderful story; if you’ve ever wondered what the phrase ‘a life well lived’ means, you’ll find the answer here.

About the Author

PETER F BARRY Born in 1939, Peter grew up on a family farm in the Lancashire Pennine hill country. A mischievous boy and a friend to all, Peter loved playing the bugle, riding horses, and playing cricket, tennis and rugby – delighting in all things outside of the classroom at school, not inside. Academically poor, he left school without any qualifications. Years later, he was diagnosed with severe dyslexia, which explained why he had failed all his exams. But even for a dairyman like him, there’s no point crying over spilt milk. Working on his parents’ dairy farm, he taught himself how to yodel, taking advantage of the acoustic echo in the dairy. Little did Peter Barry know how this would change the course of his life. After emigrating to Australia – where he participated in the construction of the historic Snowy Dam – Peter established a promising career as a singer and recording artist, performing for troops in Vietnam as well as for audiences in the nightclubs of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao. Somehow, he also found the time to open a restaurant, establish a thriving property business and start a family, all against the backdrop of the fast-changing Far East.