The recipient of the inaugural StereoNET Lifetime Achievement Award is not a decision taken lightly. It is given only to those who have shown absolute dedication to the industry for the majority of their working life, have made a positive difference and given their all, time and time again.

So without further ado, it is with great pleasure that we announce the recipient of the 2021 StereoNET Lifetime Achievement Award as Peter Familari, from Melbourne, Australia.

Peter was born in Calabria, Italy, on 4 April 1947, in the dwelling above the Cantina Caggia managed by his parents. After emigrating to Australia aged two, the family settled in Brunswick West. Peter's first exposure to music would be famous Arias by Verdi and Puccini, belted out via a record player console.

When Peter started at St. Bernard's College, Essendon, he learned to play the piano accordion. He performed gigs for the nuns at Sacred Heart Hospital, who walked the corridors with candles singing carols at Christmas, accompanied by Peter on the piano accordion, of course.

Peter Familari, Sound & Vision Article, Herald Sun - circa 1984

His interest in music at this young age was profound, and he later taught himself to play acoustic guitar. He bent a wire coat hanger around his neck to accommodate a harmonica and – wearing a beret – called himself Pierre La Monde. He would perform Dylan, Beatles, and Peter, Paul and Mary songs at restaurants and pubs in the evenings; in Sydney Road mostly, as he was too young to drive. He could only play three chords, but the patrons loved him, and he got gigs often.

Starting his tertiary studies in 1974, Peter completed an Arts Degree, majoring in English with high distinctions for every subject, at Prahran College. During this time, he was the Editor of Plebian, the college newspaper that he founded. He would become the first Familari to graduate with a tertiary qualification.

By this time, Peter was living with the love of his life and best friend, Rae, and discovered a local hi-fi shop nearby in Albert St, Brunswick. Making friends with the owners, this moment marked the beginning of his life-long passion and pursuit for the best quality sound.

While teaching full-time, Peter spent all of his free time in hi-fi stores. Eventually, he left teaching to work full-time in various specialist stores, including George Hawthorn, Northern Electronics, East Coast Audio and Encel Stereo. With his ever-apparent garrulous nature and passion for hi-fi, Peter made many friends over the years, contributing to his encyclopaedic knowledge of high-end audio. So much so, like-minded people often came to the stores to talk with Peter about hi-fi and not necessarily to buy anything. He was known as the guru in high-end audio. Friday nights became something of a hang-out for audiophiles with Peter, after closing time!

He occasionally wrote articles for the Green Guide in The Age newspaper, which led to his appointment as a journalist for the Herald Sun, eventually working his way up to Editor for Sound and Vision. This publication became hugely important to the Australian hi-fi community, and Peter was at one time the most widely read hi-fi journalist in the world based on circulation.

July 25th, 2009. Herald Sun Technology expert Peter Familari reviews Apple's new iPhone

His passion for hi-fi only grew stronger over the years, and combined with his natural talent as a teacher, Peter worked as a freelancer for many publications worldwide. This gave him the pleasure of sharing his knowledge with a broader audience.

Enjoying semi-retirement, and after a long and highly successful career within the Australian hi-fi industry, Peter contacted StereoNET founder and publisher Marc Rushton in 2013, for an informal coffee on leafy Lygon Street Melbourne. That meeting led to him once again putting up his hand to share his knowledge with StereoNET's readership.

Peter Familari (L), A.J Van den hul (R)

He was soon appointed Contributing Editor of StereoNET's Australian publication. Peter went on to pen a further 425 articles up to 2019 when he decided to put his fountain pen away for the last time. But what was most significant that Peter shared with StereoNET in those six years was not the content itself. More importantly, it was his love and talent for teaching once again, guiding StereoNET's young editorial team and taking them all under his wing.

Peter Familari (L), Philip Sawyer (R) - September 2018

StereoNET has since flourished, with over one million readers per month across four publications, including Australia/New Zealand, North America, Southeast Asia, and the United Kingdom. But it is to Peter that we owe such gratitude and thanks, as he laid the foundations for not only StereoNET itself but the millions of audiophiles whose journeys benefited from his words at some point in time, across many decades.

Thank you, Peter Familari.

StereoNET would like to thank the Familari family, Rab Turner, and many of Peter's friends for their contributions in putting this award story together.