Day: February 24, 2014

WAGGA-born actor Lex Marinos has penned a memoir Blood and Circuses about his childhood and more than three decades in front of the camera.

The book is expected to be released in July.

According to publisher Allen and Unwin, the book tells the story of “a young Greek Australian boy, whose family ran a cafe in Wagga in the ’50s and who dreamt of making his life in theatre a dream that came to pass by accident and design.”

Mr Marinos is probably best known for playing Bruno in Kingswood Country opposite Ted Bullpitt from 1979 to 1984 but he has also acted in classic Australian television dramas Water Rats and A Country Practice.

More recently, Mr Marinos has appeared on ABC television’s The Slap.

Mr Marinos, 65, spoke to the Advertiser briefly about the book but said readers would have to wait until its mid-year release.

A spokeswoman for Allen and Unwin said the book contrasted “Mr Marinos’s experience of being a Greek boy at a time when being a ‘dago’ meant suffering schoolyard abuse with his wildly successful career”.

Leaving Wagga in 1963, Mr Marinos studied drama at the University of New South Wales before starring and directing a number of television shows in the ’80s and early ’90s a contribution which saw him awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia.

“More than anything else it is a vivid account (of his life), beautifully written by a much-loved Australian,” an Allen and Unwin spokeswoman said.

Both major parties have promised $70,000 for a commercial kitchen at St Spyridon Greek Orthodox Parish.

Meals will be delivered to the Adelaide Day Centre for Homeless Persons, in Moore St, in the city.

Unley state Liberal MP David Pisoni and Labor candidate Lara Golding announced the funding commitment at the Unley Greek Festival this month.

The promises come after the Federal Government axed a $68,000 grant in December when it scaled back its Building Multicultural Communities program by more than $1.4 million.

Parish priest John Psalios welcomed the funding commitment.

He would work closely with the Moore St day centre to deliver meals each weekday.

“We supply soup and other things to the centre about once a week during winter, when there is greater need,” Father Psalios said.

“Our capacity would be increased so we could cook meals for them throughout the year.

“We’re grateful to both parties for their generosity and hope that the money does come through.”

Mr Pisoni said if the Liberals won the March 15 election, the multicultural grants scheme would be expanded to $1 million, with money for the church kitchen coming from there.

“I met with Father John so I was able to explain to (Opposition Leader) Steven Marshall the importance of the church to the community,” Mr Pisoni said.

Ms Golding said the church’s services were vital to the community.

“This funding is vital for the church to continue to provide services and meals for the homeless on a regular basis,” Ms Golding said.

“I met with Father John earlier this month and I was really impressed with the level of community involvement he encouraged.”

Mr Pisoni holds Unley with a 11.9 per cent margin.

In an emotional interview with 60 Minutes last night, the delighted new parents showed off their pride and joy, Jamie Betsis, who they welcomed to the world in November last year.

It was a happy follow-up to the heartbreaking interview the pair gave in August last year which detailed their decade of trying to conceive via IVF and the tragic setbacks they endured along the way.

“We didn’t assume that we would get the happy ending,” Coustas told Channel Nine last night.

“I mean many people don’t and we were looking like we were not going to get it.”

Back in August, Coustas who is known for her portrayal of TV personality Effie, told of how she endured almost 20 separate IVF treatments and numerous miscarriages in her attempt to fall pregnant.

She also shared her devastating experience of having to go through a selective reduction process after falling pregnant with triplets only to eventually give birth to one, a stillborn baby girl she named Stevie.

“I still went back to Greece on three occasions after Stevie,” she said. “I still did six other attempts after Stevie to get Jamie.

“That’s a lot, that’s more than most people do to get one child, the first time they do IVF.

“And yet I’m sure I’ve done over 20 IVFs. I don’t even dare to find out the amount.”

Proud dad Betsis said they were never going to give up on their chance of being parents until they had exhausted every opportunity.

“I think experiences like this, you discover your limits and you test your limits and we didn’t want to have any regrets later to say that we didn’t fully exhaust every ounce of our energy and being to get there,” he said.

Jamie was born on the 25th November last year in the same ward in the same hospital as Effie lost her Stevie at 22 weeks.

“When (Jamie) appeared it was such an overwhelming feeling of proof of all that effort, all that not giving up was finally there personified in this prize and she was just adorable. It was just the most intravenous feeling of ‘yes it happened. It actually happened’.

“I had nothing to worry about anymore. It’s like for the last decade we’ve been sitting in a room with the lights out and then finally someone came and switched the lights on.

“Nothing good comes out of giving up. If I’d given up we wouldn’t have gotten to this.

So the question on everyone’s lips is would the pair do it again for a chance at a sibling for Jamie?

“I don’t know whether we could do it again,” said Coustas. “I cant see it.”

Added Betsis: “I don’t know, I think we’re pretty happy right now.”