As his book Living on the Edge states, John Mackay would ask "what could possibly go wrong?" as he tried out "cavalier methods on cabinet ministers, PMs, senior bureaucrats, union bosses and captains of industry".

It was Wellington that gave him his resourcefulness, followed by university which taught him how to research, refine and present his ideas as he began his career.

He is currently the vice chancellor of Canberra University and director on the boards of the Canberra Investment Corporation Pty Ltd, Little Company of Mary Healthcare, Speedcast International, DataPod Pty Ltd and the Canberra Raiders.

He has also been CEO/Chairman of ActewAGL which runs all of Canberra's utilities.

At the launch of Wellington Arts, a new collective, he came back to Wellington with his wife Colette for a book signing, following its launch at the National Press Club.

"Growing up in a terrific town like Wellington I had very clear memories of the things I did here and how good it was, it did teach me business resourcefulness."

"I just ended up with all these fantastic opportunities that came my way, I got to travel the world with work and have had a wonderful life."Often he had stories to tell about Wellington as an exciting and pivotal time in his life, and it was during one such yarn that a journalist told him to write his story down.

He decided to see what came up in the first six chapters, working three hours a day and then finally showing it to another friend, Graham Downie, former journalist of the Canberra Times.

Mr Downie is blind and one of the Canberra Times' best known journalists of over 40 years.

He was fascinated by Mr Mackay's story which he describes as a "warts 'n' all inside story of the backblocks boy who became a larger than life figure in the capital [and] explains how he usually got away with it."

"Basically, it's about thousands of boyhood pranks as well as family tragedy," Mr Mackay said.

"I had all sorts of work and supported myself from about the age of 11," he said, including the milk run at 3am three mornings a week.

For those of you who missed our excerpt in the Times on his many pranks, you can actually buy the book at the Cactus Cafe, in which he talks about his friends' pet homing pigeons, late night trips to the Girl Guides camp and placing home-made explosives in the school toilets at a time when his main attraction at the corner shops were fire crackers and lollies.