Page 29 - My Memoirs - Max Kurz

1967-1969 Major Life Events
On the home front, I recollect family holidays, birthdays, dealing with children being sick, the onset of childhood asthma, going to the dentist, schooling and all the events that families are faced with. It is hard to recollect the difficulties we were confronted with or the detail as we were both so absorbed with our work not to mention our health issues; for Renee it was her work as a commercial artist at Readers Digest. We had to compensate with having part time babysitters helping with our children.
Due to the times that we lived in, it was difficult for me to accept that my wife was working other than being the traditional stay at home wife looking after children, home, and husband. It created conflict, clash of ideals and an indication of changing times. It was never overt only covert, we never talked about our concerns we just did what was needed. Renee was creating another side to her life away from home that offered her friendship, creativity, and an alternative lifestyle, which today is perfectly understandable. I was an idealist, a product of the times believing what I thought was best for all concerned. In hindsight we were never compatible with our beliefs and needs. The link between us was our children and the divisiveness was caused by societal expectations.
On the work front, I was making inroads into property development, developing expertise in land acquisition, local government regulations and compliance, feasibility studies, joint venture and capital raising, project management and sales. I teamed up with a mate of mine from my teenage years, David Gold and his brother Harold who worked as builders trading as N. Gold & Sons. We arranged joint venture projects with clients who were referred to us and who were willing to invest capital. I managed the projects and the Golds acted as the builders. This was the start of my property development career.
I was continuing to build my Real Estate Agency business, the change in direction came about when I met with Sid Steen who was introduced to me by my accountant Johnny Hodes. Sid operated a small real estate agency practice in Bondi specialising in property management. We consolidated and formed a partnership and opened our second location in Edgecliff Road, Woollahra under the trade name of Maxton’s Real Estate. We now had two offices Clovelly Road and Edgecliff Road.
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