Pedestrians stepped around and over the words, and street sweepers and cleaners left the elegant writings untouched.
Thompson approached the cleaner and asked, Are you Mr.
Eternity?, to which thecleaner replied, Guilty, your honour.
The cleaners name was Arthur Malcolm Stace.
A rare photo of Arthur Stace “Mr. Eternity”.
Born in 1885 in Redfern, Staces childhood and much of hisadulthood was markedby abject poverty.
His parents were alcoholics, and his sisters ran a brothel.
As a teenager, he became an alcoholic and was subsequently sent to jail at 15 for drunkenness.
His twenties were spent running liquor between pubs and brothels, and working as a lookout for gambling dens.
You’ve got to meet it, where will you spend Eternity?".
I couldn’t understand it, and I still can’t, he later told in an interview.
One of the few surviving original graffiti by Arthur Stace.
A modern take on the Eternity graffiti.
Stace estimates he wrote his single word message an estimated half a million times over three-and-a-half decades.
Stace’s word wound its way into Sydney’s heart.
Later, that same year, it was part of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games opening ceremony.
Only two original Eternity inscriptions survive today.
Arthur Stace’s grave in Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park.
