When Mackay-based newspaper historian Rod Kirkpatrick visited Melbourne for the launch of his book, ‘The Bold Type: A history of Victoria’s country newspapers, 1840-2010’, he nearly found himself making history. “The book launch went off very well, with about 200 or more people in the ballroom of the Windsor hotel,” says Kirkpatrick. But the same day, he could very well have been in the wrong place at the wrong time: “My wife Maureen and I were staying at a hotel close to Lygon Street, and if we hadn’t decided to have a break at about 4.30 pm on Friday, we would have been strolling in that same street around about where the double gangland shootings occurred about 4.55 pm,” he says. The drama occurred about 150 metres from where Kirkpatrick and his wife were staying. Victorian premier John Brumby (pictured right with Kirkpatrick) launches the book.