James Wright (doctor)

John Franklin Knight (born 12 December 1927), known by the pseudonym James Wright, is an Australian media personality, author, philanthropist and general practitioner (GP). He is also known as 'The Merry Medic'.
Early life.
Knight was born on 12 December 1927 in Brisbane, Australia. When he was 6 months old his family moved to Sydney. He was raised on Fox Valley Road in Wahroonga, a northern Sydney suburb. His father was a clergyman. He had a "very strict, very strict, disciplinarian upbringing. We used to get a hiding pretty regularly". His family were vegetarians. His mother lived to 100, and his father to 90 years of age. He was educated at North Sydney Boys High School. 
Private life.
Knight is still a vegetarian, does not smoke or drink alcohol and exercises daily. In 1955 Knight married Noreen Westlake. He graduated from Sydney University.
Knight made a fortune in the millions of dollars through property investments, mainly on the Queensland Gold Coast. In the early 2000s Wright was swindled out of A$57 million by a friend, New Zealander Derek Turner. "Turner had been his neighbour for 10 to 15 years and was a trusted acquaintance, Dr Knight said" He also owned a motel and a funeral director's company for forty years, also a printing company.
Knight has had surgery for throat cancer and in February 2017 had surgery for bowel cancer.
Medical career.
Knight first practised medicine as a GP in Tottenham, a small town in the Central West, very close to the geographic centre of New South Wales. While there he was also the local correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). His stories were sent to the ABC by morse code.
Media career.
He was the 'resident doctor' on "The Midday Show", starting when it was "The Mike Walsh Show", a period of twenty-five years. He also ran his own radio show for almost twenty years.
Medi Aid Centre Foundation.
In 1971 Knight and his wife established the charity 'Medi-Aid'. It grew from an idea in Knight's teenage years to a national foundation that provides aged care accommodation for more than 700 elderly people. The foundation has several villages in Sydney, and one on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Its prime aim is to provide housing for the older community across all socio-economic levels.
Awards.
In 1998 Knight was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his media outreach and the work of the Foundation. In 2003, he was one of the three finalists in the "Australian of the Year" Awards. Knight was awarded as the 2017 New South Wales Senior Australian of the Year.