BONUS | Who was Tony Popic?
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Hi there, I'm Dominique Bayens. This bonus episode of Expanse The Nanop 4 is going to be a little bit different to what you've heard so far. As the podcast has been rolling out, we've had a bunch of people get in touch. So today I'm going to bring you an update of what's come to light in the past few weeks. And a big one. For the first time ever, Tony Popich's family are going to talk.
Do you need me sitting with this near my face?
Yeah, so perhaps if we angle you. Yeah, and... We've had hundreds of comments on the YouTube episodes, and one of them was wondering where Tony's family are. Well, I've actually been in touch sporadically with Tony's brother Joe for months, but he's been really reluctant to speak, which I totally get. They must be really hard memories to revisit.
You know what you're doing.
Like, maybe just bring yourself a little... Like there, about there, yeah. But after hearing me give an interview on the radio about the podcast, he got in touch and said he was ready to talk.
I wrestled with the idea on and off for a lot of times and most of the time it came that I wasn't going to talk to you.
So here is the extended chat I had with Joe about his brother Tony, the one of the Nanup Four who's been the hardest to get a sense of. It's a Friday afternoon when I drive up to Perth through those forests of the southwest. Joe's just knocked off work and he's wearing a black cap, metal-framed reading glasses and high-vis. I'm struck by how similar he looks to Tony. They could almost be twins. He's got the same olive skin, round face and piercing eyes. When Joe smiles, it's that same boyish smile I've seen in photos of Tony. I can tell he's pretty nervous to be here. Let's just to start off. So we've got you in your own words. Do you just want to introduce yourself and tell me what your connection is to Tony?
Yeah, absolutely. Well, my name's Joe, obviously, and I'm Tony's brother, three years younger. He's obviously three years older. And yeah, we live together, work together. And yeah, we're just, you know, we did what brothers did, got up to some mischief and just, you know, partied and, you know, joked around and just did what young guys did at the time. Yeah.
Joe starts telling me about his and Tony's childhood in 2J, a farming town about an hour and a half drive northeast of Perth, on the edge of WA's Wheatbelt. Tony was the second oldest of four siblings and his family ran a fruit and veg shop and Joe and Tony would help unload produce from trucks, serve customers and carry their groceries to the car.
We often... Talked as we got older and we looked back and we thought we're probably doing 12 hour days as 15 or 16 year old kids, you know, and you look back down, you think that's a pretty full on day, but we're happy to do it. It was good fun.
What new information has emerged about Tony Popic?
How would you describe Tony's personality as a kid?
As a kid, easy going, fun, light, very light energy, you know, like just a good fun kid to be around. As he got older, he sort of progressed around, you know, a bit of painting and stuff like that. Bit arty that way, went down that field for a little bit. He was quite talented, but didn't really do much with it. He just did it as a hobby. He liked his garden a lot. Wherever he sort of moved to, he always made a bit of a garden or some pot plants or something of some sort.
This makes me think of Tony as an adult, taking on handyman jobs and working at the nursery where he sold Jodie that bronze horse statue.
We eventually moved to Northam, I think. I left there in about, I think it was 92.
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