Editing Ron Grainer (section)

===Early life===
Ronald Grainer was born on 11 August 1922 in [[Atherton, Queensland]], Australia,<ref>Australian Dictionary of Biography vol 17 2007 "Ron Grainer" *sister Margorie was born at Mt Mulligan in 1924</ref> the first child of Margaret Clark, an amateur pianist,<ref>Mt Mulligan Notes Cairns Post 27 July 1920 p3</ref> and Ronald Albert Grainer, a storekeeper and postmaster.<ref>Mt. Mulligan Notes Cairns Post 16 February 1914 p7 / Brisbane Courier 22.9.21 
p7</ref>

For the first eight years of Ron's life the Grainer family lived in [[Mount Mulligan, Queensland|Mount Mulligan]], a small town built around the extraction of coal from three seams which lay beneath a 400-metre-high sandstone monolith,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mbahistsoc.org.au/locations/location-mount-mulligan.html|title=The Historical Society of Mareeba|publisher=Mbahistsoc.org.au|access-date=27 September 2014}}</ref> located 100&nbsp;km west of Cairns.<ref>Peter Bell "If Anything Too Safe" 2nd ed James Cook Uni 1996 p1,2</ref> Apart from the industrial noise and dust, the family sometimes had to contend with the after effects of a high consumption of alcohol by the shift miners. On one such occasion a stray bullet flew through the roof of their home and almost hit the 11-week-old Ron as he lay on his bed.<ref>"From Our Own Correspondent" Cairns Post 8 November 1922 p3</ref>

Because of Mt Mulligan's physical isolation, encouraging a sense of community was vital. This was achieved by regularly holding dance and social functions.<ref>Mike Rimmer "Up The Palmerston" Glovers Printing Works Bundaberg 2004 p 209</ref> These public entertainments became very important for bolstering local morale, especially after a [[Mount Mulligan mine disaster|massive explosion on 19 September 1921]] killed 75 resident mine workers{{spaced ndash}}one third of Mt Mulligan's adult population.<ref>Peter Bell "If Anything Too Safe" 2nd edition James Cook Uni 1996 p87</ref>

Concerts in the years following the disaster included performances by a very young Ron Erle Grainer, taught piano-playing from the age of four by his mother <ref name="autogenerated8">"Composer Lumped Coal" Sunday Mail 1 March 1981 p8</ref> and encouraged to learn the violin by an elderly Welsh miner.<ref>"Ron Grainer The Man Behind "The Maigret Theme"' Decca Records 1961</ref> As Grainer's music skills developed, he started demonstrating an ability to reconstruct tunes he had heard at school or on gramophone records.<ref name="autogenerated8"/> Mary Wardle, a classical music singer, historian, and former resident of Mt Mulligan, remembers Grainer performing on keyboard instruments "when he could barely reach the pedals."<ref>Mike Rimmer "Up The Palmerston" Glovers Printing Works Bundaberg 2004 p. 209.</ref>