Orthopaedic Surgeon, Mr John Harris (Wyvern 1964), left, and Cardiologist, Professor Emeritus Andrew Tonkin OAM (Wyvern 1962), both Queen’s scholarship students, met in first year medicine. They bonded during anatomy tutorials while dissecting the human body. Through Andrew, John experienced College life and was inspired to join him in Queen’s, in third year. By fourth year, the pair had chosen to ‘wife’ together, sealing their friendship for life. 

Andrew  ‘Tonk’ 

My father was a stoker in the permanent Australian Navy for 23 years, my mother was a gifted primary school teacher, I was an only child. I cannot remember meeting my father. He was repatriated from the Navy in 1946 and died in 1950, when I was six. I was socially a bit inept. It was thought that, even though I lived in Oakleigh, I’d gain socially by living in Queen’s during my medical degree. It was a great decision, and I was fortunate to be awarded a resident scholarship.  

When we roomed together it was fantastic, John has a great personality. I was always slightly more retiring, probably wasn’t as self-confident as he was but we shared the same principles. We had great times together and continue to have similar interests.   

One of the things I benefitted from mostly in College, was rooming (in those days, ‘wiving’) with different people during my first four years. Simon Ralton (Wyvern 1962), first year, then second year with Ian Bentley Still (Wyvern 1962), after whom the first College goat was named, and Dr Phillip Mein (Wyvern 1962) in third year. Then with John (Harry). As a ‘wife’, he had a very positive attitude to life, and was a really outgoing, very happy person with a keen and sometimes wicked sense of humour. He enjoyed repartee and was really popular.  

Before we wived together in College a group of us camped on the 90-mile beach. John was brought up in Yarram and knew that part of Gippsland very well.  We played golf, surf fished and I learned to kill a snake. Until then the only time I’d seen a snake was in the zoo. It was ensconced in one of the tents and I was nominated, I suspect by John, to do the killing. When I asked why, I was told it was because I had shoes on, but they also had shoes. They all stayed in the vehicles while I got a golf club, went in and after about 20 swings of the club, Harry said to me very wryly, ‘Tonk, I think it might be dead’. I think he was more worried about his four iron and its integrity than he was about my longevity.  

Harry was a person of the world; his feet were well and truly planted on the ground, just a very genuine, good person. As students, he was much more practical, I was not good at anatomy whereas John was one of the top anatomy students. I was thinking more about the whys and the wherefores rather than the how-tos. We differed in that way but we both had a similar understanding that a lot of what is done in medicine relates to it being a social science. That as well as being about technical skills and knowledge, it is about communication and how we interact, particularly with patients, and also with other professionals. Because of Harry’s great qualities, he has operated on many of his colleagues and their family members.  

We bounced ideas off each other when we were studying and were pretty religious about going to our lectures. We shared the 9-5 mentality, where you’d work diligently during the daytime hours then socialise in the evenings, when there was the regular 9pm coffee with other students in College. 

Queen’s was an eye-opener in the sense that we had freedom, and were not policed in what we did. I was committed to the education experience, and regarded myself fortunate to have been there, but the education also occurred outside the university lecture rooms. We did things I would not have previously contemplated, such as regularly going to the old Carlton Moviehouse, the ‘Bughouse’, Naughtons, and walking around Melbourne General Cemetery as a group. The discussions we had over coffee with a wide group of friends were far-ranging. I just hadn’t experienced that environment, and it was absolutely terrific. 

John has a wide circle of friends, and because of his great personality, is very popular. I think we have had a true friendship. We all have many acquaintances, fewer close friends and even fewer lifelong and deep friends. I count myself very fortunate that Harry and I have been lifelong friends for almost 65 years, and it’s a delight to talk about him and the role Queen’s has had in my life. 

We share recognition of the importance of one’s colleagues and contributing to our profession. Both of us have been fortunate to have been involved beyond our immediate work environment with our craft groups.   

John has contributed widely to his orthopaedic profession in public and private practice. He was a Senior Orthopaedic Surgeon at Royal Melbourne and Epworth hospitals for some 40 years and is now a Consultant Emeritus. He was also Director of federal orthopaedic training and President of The Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA), an orthopaedic examiner and a member of the Court of Examiners for the Royal Australian College of Surgeons. He is now a Life Fellow of the AOA and is still working as a consultant with Medical Panels of Victoria. He is also a Fellow of Queen’s College, a privilege he holds with the highest regard.  

We both have daughters who are artists, who were in the same year in Fine Arts at the VCA. When John’s daughter saw my eldest daughter’s name was Michelle Tonkin, she said, ‘Are you related to ‘Tonk?’, and she said, ‘Yes, he is my father.’ They became firm friends. They were soon in a share house with a very happy group including my other daughter who is an actor. So, our friendship extends beyond us, it has gone on to our children. 

My first marriage ended in divorce, and I came back to Melbourne and lived by myself for 10 years. John was very supportive when I needed him most. He’s not just there for the light stuff; he’s there for the big stuff as well. He is not judgmental. I think Harry has made very good decisions in life but having said that, his personality is such that even if he considered he might have made a wrong decision, he would push ahead. He’s very positive and always moves forwards.

Harry was always more self-confident, and I think that has rubbed off on me. There have been times when he has asked me personal things, and I have felt privileged that he wanted to discuss these. He has sought my opinion about matters related to our children. He was my best man at my first wedding. His brother was his best man, and I was a groomsman at his wedding.   

Ultimately, our life is lived with breadth as well as length and John has been an extremely important part in broadening me from my relatively narrow upbringing. Our friendship has helped me enormously in socialising with people, especially in the formative years when we were at Queen’s. He’s helped me let down any sort of barriers I might have put up in terms of getting into a deep friendship, in opening up to that. It was Harry who turned that page. He knows me. We will be lifelong great mates. 

John  ‘Harry’

I was a country boy, born and bred. My schoolfriends called me Harry, that continued into my university days, and now my 13 grandchildren also call me Harry. At high school, I studied maths and sciences and did woodwork instead of French which might be why I did orthopaedics. I was always useful with tools, often fixing things. I did my leaving at Yarram High School, then was offered a place at Melbourne High School, to do my Matriculation. I did well enough to get a Commonwealth Scholarship and was accepted into medicine at Melbourne University.  

Andrew (Tonk) was a Legacy child, brought up by his devoted mother Alice, a lovely lady. His dad died when he was very young. He had a scholarship at Wesley and it wasn’t wasted,  I can tell you; he is so smart.    

I met Tonk during my first years of university. We did biology pracs together, in the old Laboratory at Queen’s and dissected the same cadaver together at university. He stood out as a friendly, humble, straight up and down, honest as you can get, sort of guy. I had a non-resident Queen’s scholarship for those two years then going into third year, Jack Clarke rang and offered me a place at Queen’s. I was so lucky. It was a major turning point in my life. One of the best things I ever did, was to come to Queen’s. It makes you a different person, see a different perspective. You meet people from all walks of life and get to know them because you see them every day. It is a great privilege.

Tonky and I decided to ‘wife’ together because we got on and had similar interests. He’s so easy going. As a roommate, he had impeccable habits. We greatly enjoyed each other’s company. Everyone likes Tonky and he was very popular in College. He was my second ‘wife’ at Queen’s. Theologue, Rev Colin Honey (Wyvern 1963) was my first.  

Tonk was always a very good student, very conscientious, but we did take time off. One weekend we played cards non-stop from Friday, all through that night, all day Saturday, and Sunday. There were students visiting us at all hours, having a look at this mad group of four playing, and sharing a coffee, claret or port.

We got to know each other’s families. His mum gave me a surprise 21^st birthday party and I invited him back to meet my family in Yarram. We once camped at 90-mile beach where we used to play golf up and down the beach, and fish. Tonk proudly killed his first snake there with my four iron, which has never been the same since. 

We both went to Royal Melbourne Hospital to do clinical work and we also lived together when rotating to the Royal Women’s Hospital and Royal Children’s. We studied hard but used to play a lot of billiards and enjoy a beer. Tonk was so caring, kind and conscientious. I will never forget in clinical school one day, Tonky was examining the heart and lungs of some poor bloke who had lost both his legs and he was so focussed on the heart he asked him to get off the couch and. ‘go for a bit of a walk’. Then realising the absence of legs, he was so embarrassed and effusively apologised to the amused patient. We all had a laugh -including the good-natured patient. Those things happen, particularly when you are a student. 

He is a great achiever, for both the community and the profession. Top of his tree. Our choice of disciplines is reflective of our personalities. Being an orthopod shows I’m more practical. I like doing things with my hands. Tonk’s choice has certainly satisfied his scientific acumen. I think we both used to do a lot of good. He has been Director of Cardiology at both Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, and Austin Health. He first became a world expert in cardiac rhythm problems. With his expertise in physiology and his scientific brain, he has done a lot of original research. I can’t even say what because it’s out of my league. He later became Medical Director of the Heart Foundation. He was known worldwide in cardiac circles and a member of quite an elite group, the Executive Board of the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the World Heart Federation. He chaired one of the very large early research trials of statins which showed their great value in people who have had heart attacks, even when their cholesterol wasn’t regarded as being high. Then more recently he was one of the leads in a very large trial of aspirin undertaken in healthy older people. These large trials change the evidence base for guidelines and improve outcomes for many people around the world. Tonky is highly respected. He has had the acknowledgement that comes with an OAM, and he deserves every bit of it.  

Tonk taught me things about how to behave. He is certainly a gentleman. When he came into College he had lived a relatively quiet life socially, and I saw a change in him through the years. He is still self-effacing, and often apologising for something. We used to make fun of it. I’d offer him a piece of chocolate and he would say, ‘No, you have my piece’.  He has a heart of gold and always wants to do the best for people. It’s just part of him. Although Tonk can sometimes be very serious, when we are together, we still have our laughs and good conversations. 

I haven’t needed to reach out to him much but when doing so he is a good listener and provides good counsel. When you are good at what you are doing in the medical profession, you work incredibly hard and are on call. It’s very hard to maintain the balance between looking after your family, and work, and looking after people.  This can be challenging in relationships. Tonky contacted me a couple of times to talk about what was going on in his life.  But even then he has really looked after his family so well. All three kids are thriving. I know his eldest very well. I am her godfather but I wasn’t a very good one regarding Christian spiritualism because she became a Buddhist Nun under my supposed guidance. 

Tonk is as solid as a rock and honest as the day. He can be serious but also a very funny guy, with a wonderful sense of humour. He’s an extremely loyal friend. We have always maintained our friendship easily. Whenever we get together it’s just like we are back in College.  

There is no doubt that Queen’s has been the strong tie that binds us.