A kiss'n'tell about James and Kerry, by Andrew Hornery - The Sydney Morning Herald - 3rd October 2009

Well known and slightly infamous author and journalist, Paul Barry, has written an unauthorised biography on Australia's gambling mogul, James Packer.

Because of the public fascination about the Packer clan the book is likely to be a best seller, even if it was an average effort, and I'm not saying it was. Shane Warne (Australian cricket legend and celebrity poker player) for one is not a fan of Mr Barry's work, having a public dig at his "Spun Out" unauthorised hack on himself a few years back.

For everyone's sake, let's hope that Mr Barry has been fair to Mr Packer, who has been enjoying some strong success with his Crown Casino, Burswood Casino, and even Macau's City Of Dreams.

Mr Barry has written books on a number of famous and some may say, infamous Australians including the late Kerry Packer (The Rise And Rise Of Kerry Packer).

I must say that all my dealings with Packer companies and people over the years have been fair and largely very positive, and no, I am not on the Packer, Network Nine, Crown Casino or Paul Barry payroll (not directly anyway). Our business model does not include pay days from The Packers, and we will not be divulging our business model's fine details, not today anyway.

Due to my personal connections, I prefer the books penned by Kevin Perkins, who titles include "The Gambling Man" and "Bristow: Last Of The Hard Men". I'm not saying Mr Perkins is a superior writer to Mr Barry, nor am I saying James Packer is a bigger gambler than Kerry Packer.

*the writer (Greg Tingle) is the founder and director of Media Man Australia, and is a regular commentator on Network Nine Australia and Crown Casino matters. He does not work for or represent James Packer or any Packer owned companies.

Article

Private Sydney: BY ALL accounts the doting dad James Packer is proving to be a very different parent from his late father, Kerry.

Indeed, many of the more painful memories Packer has of his father are about to be aired very publicly with the publication of the unauthorised biography Who Wants To Be A Billionaire? The James Packer Story , by the journalist Paul Barry, on October 12.

Coming after a long haul of research and talking to hundreds of Packer's associates, friends and foes, the book is said to present the first comprehensive portrait of James, covering everything from his school days at Cranbrook to his girlfriends and willingness to drop millions of dollars on a collection of big boys' toys.

But the most telling chapters are those about Packer's often turbulent relationship with his father.

PS has been given an exclusive sneak peak at some of the more intriguing elements, including a story shared with Barry by the former PBL director Ian Johnson.

''James would kiss his father when he arrived at board meetings, in front of everyone,'' Johnson told Barry.

''And in return, Kerry would scream at him. James would bring up good business ideas and Kerry would just reject them. James was always incredibly polite, always respectful and never hit back. But you could see how frustrated he was.''

Johnson particularly remembered James saying to his father at a management meeting, ''You're in a good mood today, Dad.'' Barry writes that Kerry's response was to turn on one of the other executives and savage him, before turning to James, ''So you think you f---ing know, do you, son?''

Barry discovered James was a very different operator to his father in many aspects of his life, as he expresses in the book's acknowledgments.

''The Packers never like being written about, and James is no exception to the rule. So I did not get to sit down with the subject of this book and talk about his life. But unlike his famous father, James never told his friends not to speak to me and never threatened to sue everyone I spoke to. So my first and biggest thank you is to James Packer. I hope I've been fair to you and I hope I've done you justice. It's a great responsibility to write an unauthorised biography of a living person, and I hope I have not been too harsh. This book has taken more than two years to write. During that time I have spoken to a couple of hundred people who have known James or his father as friends, acquaintances, employees or rivals in business. Some agreed to be named; far more preferred to remain anonymous.'' (Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)

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