Tribute from Peter Spence
Max Green
8 June 1947 – 22 June 2024
…A very good man; a life well-lived
I first met Max Green in 1957, when we were classmates in Year 4 at West Kempsey Primary School on the New South Wales North Coast. The following year, my family moved to Lismore on the Far North Coast of NSW.
The next time our paths crossed was in 1966, when we were associated with the same group studying Physical Education in Sydney. At this time, we were both living in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and spent a lot of time together as we had similar interests.
When Max married Sue Wall, I was honoured to be his Best Man.
When I married Honey Mazzetti in 1980, Max paid me the honour of being my Best Man.
Thus, our lives have been closely linked for a long period of time and I’m deeply saddened by Max’s passing.
He was a genuine friend, a fun-loving character, with a strong zest for life.
As a hard-running centre, Max appeared to have a successful career ahead of him in Rugby Union. Initially, this was at the Eastern Suburbs Rugby Club, where his father, Errol, had a long and successful career. But this promising start was curtailed by troublesome knees that he had inherited and that broke down, all too regularly.
Max was a very good teacher, and a high-quality coach. From the early years of his Physical Education training, Max became established as a highly regarded swimming coach with the legendary Sep Prosser at Woollahra. His experience in the pressure-cooker environment of performance sport gave Max a strong point of difference that he carried into the rest of his life.
As happens in the busy world in which we live, work commitments take us in different directions. Our respective commitments took us in different directions, with the result that Max and I have not been in close contact for many years. However, each time either of us made contact with the other, it was as if time had stood still, and we were able to pick up where we had left off… a sure sign of good friendship.
Max was always a highly committed parent with Sue, to Alex, Michael, and Eliza. After the breakdown of his marriage, Max later found great solace in his life with Liz, with whom I have had some wonderful exchanges at this time of sadness.
Like so many of his family and friends, I will miss Max Green. He was a true friend and I thank him for the life experiences that we shared over the years.
Go well, Max.
