Tribute to Tony

I would often bump into Tony tending his footpath gardens when walking to Bay St. I say gardenS because they extended in both directions down the street – with herbs, tomatoes, apricots, olives, figs, persimmons and lemons.

I hadn’t seen Tony for a while. Even allowing for the hot weather and the changing season, the tomatoes were looking dishevelled. It suggested something was amiss.

I learned that Tony had died on 26 January in his 83rd year.

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Way, way, before it was popular, Tony cultivated his nature strip. The challenging conditions of footpath gardening raised his ire. (Ire comes almost directly from the Latin word for anger, ira.)

Tony never got used to Melbourne’s unpredictable weather. He railed against the street tea trees that shed fine needles. He couldn’t understand why anyone would want to grow a tree that was not productive. He chased away the birds that ate his fruit with the broom he used to keep the gutter spotless.

Tony was often grumpy. There’s no getting away from it. Invariably, just as his tomatoes approached perfection, there would be a big storm, a heat wave, or a north wind and they would all be ruined. ‘Rubbish weather’, he would complain.

He couldn’t understand why people would help themselves to his fruits, tearing them off the plant, ‘If they only asked’, he said.

These conversations about the weather, the world and the price of everything would often end with a resigned ‘Well, what can you do?’

There were rare moments when he would be transported by memories, or imaginings, of the perfect persimmon. Holding thumb and finger to his lips, he could almost taste them. ‘Beautiful!’

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Tony came to Australia in 1962 from Messina in north east Sicily, part of the wave of post war migration. He travelled on board the Neptunia, arriving at Princes Pier. He had an uncle already in Mildura.

As a young man he was handsome, he told me, his hair like Elvis. He gestured using his hand as a comb.

He got a job at Brockhoff Biscuits where he worked 3 tons of dough with a spade¹. He was at Kraft for 29 years where he worked in the room where cheese powder was sprayed on Cheezels.

Tony worked hard in his life. It left him with poor health and contributed to his irritation. Riding a bike was easier than walking. Catching the sun in the late afternoon in Lagoon Reserve warmed his aching joints.

After the Port Phillip Council adopted nature strip guidelines in 2022, local laws officers asked Tony to remove the gardens where he had been growing tomatoes for over 30 years. A neighbour helped reach an accommodation with the Council. The gardens were neatened up and trip hazards dealt with.

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The tomatoes on the footpath are dying now. It’s the end of the season after all. But the persimmons have yet to ripen and the birds which so infuriated Tony will no doubt enjoy the figs.          

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Antonio (Tony) Squillace 8 July 1942 – 26 January 2025

¹ based on conversations with Tony over the years

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