Being other-wise: a tribute to the late Christopher Newell

This brief memoir is a personal tribute to the late Rev Canon Dr Christopher Newell AM (1964 - 2008). Being the fourth year of the TJA prize in his honour, and nearly five years since Christopher’s unfortunate death, it seemed timely to again reflect on our relationship and the seminal contribution and challenge, as a person with disability, that Christopher made to the telecommunications industry and to inclusive customer service. I hope this will provide further insight into Christopher’s role and modus operandi as an agent of change; how he characterised himself as a “critical friend” of the industry yet chose to enter into deep personal relationships with people who walked with him as he scooted along on his journey. In Christopher I found a deep conjunction of the personal and the professional, a priest and a professor, a saint and a rogue.