Journalists are an irreverent breed who must find humour in any event in order to stay sane. Here is a fabulously varied collection of stories from Frank and Kerry packer, Rupert Murdoch, Ita Buttrose, Ron Saw and many others on the world where truth is often stranger than fiction...When screen goddess Ava Gardner was in Melbourne for the filming of On The Beach (1959) a young reporter was told to get Miss Gardner's opinions of Melbourne, her latest romance, the film, etc. No interviews were being given by anyone and all the reporter could garner was a few scraps of information about the stars and the filming locations. So he concocted a story, the last paragraph being an alleged quote from Miss Gardner via a rumour at third hand from a usually reliable source: "On The Beach is a story about the end of the world and Melbourne sure is the right place to make it." The reporter fully expected that the editor would cut it, realising it was a practical joke. The 'quote' went viral world-wide and was included by by writers whenever mentioning Melbourne (or even Australia) for the next twenty years. In 1980 Miss Gardner was asked about the now-hackneyed quote. She said she couldn't remember saying it, but it was funny and she'd be happy to take the credit for it. The reporter - in 1982 - issued a formal confession and apology to Miss Gardner.