As the sun went down and the moon came up over the Harvest Feast on Churchill Island the guest of honour was soon to be toasted - only the lamb was roasted on this occasion for 30 hours and it was delicious. David Williamson was the head of the Australian Writers' Guild for 13 years - the longest serving president ever.
I turned on my FlipVideo camera to take a very wobbly picture when it became evident that the award presentation to Australia's most successful playwright was indeed a special celebration - though I know from conversations the following day that quite a few conference goers didn't actually know much about him.
I knew his plays having interviewed him for Dead White Males in his Sydney home and then for Heretic in the Sydney Opera House at a time a David Williamson play meant a box office bonanza and every state theatre company wanted to stage his premieres.
I've taken some comic license with a kind of laugh track commentary here which I hope will not offend anyone. It's only a 2-hour edit on iMovie.
The AWG's current president, Tim Pye, presented him with a trophy.
The inscription on his trophy reads:
David Williamson AO
A luminary of Australian stage and screen and champion of writers.
Australian Writers’ Guild 17 February 2011
David Williamson: