The Owl Who Wore Sunglasses

Eric Barnett was born at Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales, the youngest of four sons. When he was six years of age, the family moved to live at Newtown in Sydney. Eric played first grade Rugby League with the Newtown Club at seventeen years of age, as a goal-kicking centre. He then went to England where he played three seasons with the prestigious Huddersfield first grade team in Yorkshire and during this time, he was a cricket professional at Leeds as well, also in Yorkshire. He returned to Sydney where he played first grade Rugby League with the Balmain Club. Eric was also a player/coach of Rugby League in Darwin and Port Moresby where he was captain/coach of the Papuan national team. He also played Rugby League in Christchurch, New Zealand. He later played Rugby Union with the Wasps Club in London, the Nomads team in Toronto, Canada, and the Wanderers team in New York. He played cricket in Toronto and with the Staten Island team in New York. While living in New York, Eric studied television production and direction and was dux of that year which allowed him to work with the American NBC Network in St Paul, Minnesota, where his eldest daughter, Shanan, was born. He later returned to Sydney to work for Channel 10. Eric then joined the Regular Army with the rank of captain and saw war service in Vietnam, serving in various regions of Vietnam. While Eric was serving at Army Headquarters in Canberra, his second daughter, Rachael, was born. From 1955 to 1968, Eric was a financial member of the Australian Journalists' Association. Eric is a multi-instrumentalist, playing the guitar, the Japanese harp, the Hawaiian pedal steel guitar and drums. He has performed in Ireland, New Zealand, Fiji, the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Eric is also an artist, songwriter, playwright and author.