DRIVE NOW May/June 2022

Tribute
to Stan F. White .../continued
So, in May 1966, he started TAXI
TALK magazine - A monthly
magazine for taxi men exclusively.
It was produced as an A5 black and
white 36-page magazine for the
first two years.
It was back in the day when 14”
tyres for Holden, Falcon and
Valiants were $11.50 each, and a
change-over engine for Holden FE
was $190.
In May 1968, it was ‘upgraded’
to B5 size with a splash of colour
throughout, and its by-line on the
front cover was changed to The
Voice of the Taxi Industry. And
from there it has kept growing
and become more colourful every
year, and it is still going strong
today, albeit under the different
name of DRIVE NOW – Voice of the
Australian Commercial Passenger
Transport Industry.
Stan was thoroughly proud of what
he started way back in 1966 and
the fact that it is still printed today
and continued to be produced by
his family.
Throughout the years, he met just
about all of the Victorian Premiers,
Ministers for Transport and heads
of the taxi industry regulators. He
chatted with them on numerous
occasions and even had lunch and
drinks with a few.
He loved his Friday lunches with
mates from both the Racing and
Taxi industries, where he would tell
a joke, a story and have a drink, or
2 or 10.
Stan was also one of the largest
Rails Horse racing Bookies in
Victoria. He used to say that TAXI
TALK was his living and Bookieing
was just a hobby – bloody
expensive hobby, if you ask me.
Horse racing was a sport he
enjoyed - not just because of the
betting but for the sport itself.
He did say that Black Caviar was
the best racehorse he had ever
witnessed. Mohammad Ali was
his favourite boxer, and Ash Barty
his all-time favourite female tennis
icon. Aussie Rules football was
favoured too - and he barracked for
the Mighty Magpies!
Stan had a passion for fishing.
Whether it be from the pier, river
bank, or boats big and small - even
fish farms. There were fishing trips
in Cairns and Arnhem Land with
fellow Bookies and their wives
- everyone having a great time
fishing, drinking, eating and telling
stories. He even taught his children
and grand-children how to fish.
He was a self-taught handyman -
an amateur carpenter, plasterer,
plumber, electrician, gardener,
brickie – you name it, he learnt how
to do it…Stan hardly ever read a
manual as he said, “real men don’t
need instructions” – and this got
him into some trouble over the
years!
He may have had variety in his
jobs, travelled far and wide, met
and made many friends, but there
was one constant for over 70 years
of his life – his wife, Isobel - they
were married for 60 years. Yet
in September 2021, Isobel’s heart
and lungs wore out and she passed
away. This was extremely hard
for Stan to cope with – he often
said that when Isobel died, it was
like someone punched his chest
and ripped out his heart – he said
he had never felt so sad about
anything before.
Some years ago, Stan was
diagnosed with Lewy Body
Dementia. Come September 2021 it
was in a very advanced stage, and
the passing of Isobel just worsened
it. His ability to remember shortterm
events decreased and he was
moved into the Special Care Unit at
Nellie Melba Retirement Village.
In April 2022, just before Easter,
he fell and broke his hip. He had
28 May/June 2022