Heroes Next Door

With special guest:

• Samuel Johnson
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Samuel Johnson is well known to Australian television audiences. He has won the Gold Logie for his performance in the miniseries Molly.

But to others in the Australian community he is the hero who has raised over $10 million for cancer research. In that connection Samuel rode his unicycle around Australia in a fund raising effort and in the process of cycling 15,000 kilometres broke a world record. Clearly this man knows a hero when he sees one.

And yet when Samuel’s sister Hilde Hinton told him about the everyday heroes she met in her own fundraising activities it all came as a surprise. Many of these unsung heroes in our Australian community hide their light under a bushel. These Australian heroes were initially horrified to think that their stories would be included in a book titled Heroes Next Door. However Samuel can be very persuasive and we are fortunate to be able finally to hear these uplifting stories at a time when we need them most.

Samuel is such an engaging person to speak with. He is open and candid, entertaining and enlightening. And when we hear from Samuel about some of his heroes you will be awestruck. Just think about Mat on Phillip Island who turned his retrenchment from being employed as an engineer at a car manufacturer into a venture that now makes artificial hands for people around the world. Free. Or those who reacted heroically when their communities were caught up by the overwhelming bushfire emergencies in the summer of 2019/2020.

Samuel has now set himself a new goal of raising $1million a month for Love Your Sister. If you want to think about what you can do to help others or if you want a lift in these dark days have a listen to what Samuel has to say about this. This show is a real treat for our listeners.

Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson has distinguished himself in so many fields. As an actor Samuel won the 2001 AFI award for best actor in a leading role in a TV drama series. He is best known for winning the Gold Logie for his performance in the 2016 miniseries Molly.

In 2012 Samuel started the Love Your Sister Foundation raising funds for the Garvan Institute of Medical research in honour of his sister Connie. Then he unicycled around Australia, broke the world record and raised nearly $1.5m in doing so. In August 2019 Love Your Sister reached its goal of raising $10million.

In 2018 Samuel was named Victorian of the Year. Samuel is the author of 4 books including Heroes Next Door written with his sister Hilde Hinton.

Song selection by our guest: Colors by Black Pumas

Note: This program is an encore presentation of the one aired on 12th November, 2020.

Podcast (mp3)