Let’s take it back to primary school. If I were to compose a acrostic poem about Sydney I’d reserve the first letter not for sun, surf or style but self-congratulatory. As a city we love to pat ourselves on the back and within a week of FBi Radio and Time Out honouring the Harbour City’s Music, Arts and Culture the Sydney Morning Herald’s Sydney Magazine have announced their top 100 most influential residents of 2009.
Not to be confused with Creative Sydney’s 100 “Creative Catalysts”, the SMH’s list boasts a wider scope of Sydneysiders: Politicians, Entrepreneurs, Community Workers, Style Mavens, Musicians, Educators, Environmentalists and Scientists to name but a few.
As always, lists such as this will illicit fervent debate between Sydneysiders and eyerolls from Melburnians but Pedestrian is particularly happy with the inclusion of FBi Radio’s Dan Zilber and Meagan Loader, Finders Keepers’ Brooke Johnston and Sarah Thornton, Heaps Decent’s Nina Agzarian and Andrew Levins, songstress Sarah Blasko, Raise The Bar’s John Wardle, the prolific Nick Littlemore, White Rabbit owner and Chinese art enthusiast Judith Neilson, Romance Was Born’s Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett, Model Emma Balfour, Cate Blanchett (honoured not as an actress but as The Sydney Theatre Company’s Co-Artistic Director) and a painful inclusion for those north of the border – Wayne Bennett.
To see the full list step into a time machine and check out yesterday’s issue of The Sydney Magazine.
Title Image by Kevin Winter via Getty
