Local legend Mr Ross says that silhouettes were a great way to reproduce a person's likeness before photography. A snippet from SMH: "For three decades, S. John Ross was "the Silhouette Man" of Luna Park, an American-born showman who became one of the best-known human faces at Sydney's favourite fun fair. From 1950 until the tragic fire in 1979, Ross - "I've never revealed what the S stands for. It's my trademark, only the tax office knows" - worked until midnight in his stall. Generations of courting couples sat in his chair while he carved out their portraits - an artist whose medium was a pair of scissors and a black card. Now, for the first time in 25 years, the 85-year-old is setting up his stall again at Luna Park. Every weekend in January he'll be open for business, just as he was in his heyday when visiting celebrities like Ernest Borgnine, Johnny Ray and John Mills would pose for him. "Silhouettes were a big thing for 2000 years, until the advent of photography," Ross explains. "It goes back to the ancient Greeks." He was 12 when he saw his first silhouette artist, at the Michigan State Fair in Detroit. "Right then I knew what I wanted to be." Through the Depression, he helped his mother raise seven children after charming his way into an apprenticeship with Bud-Jack, a master of the art. In 1942 Ross came to Australia as a US soldier. "My job was to look after celebrity VIPs like Bob Hope and Jack Benny. We needed good drivers so I requested some WAAF's. They sent 10, and one became my wife, Phyllis." They married in 1945 and he began working shows as far north as Rockhampton, in central Queensland. "My first Easter Show was in 1948. This year will be my 57th." In 1950 he was invited to try his luck at Luna Park. "I said I'd do it for a week. I stayed 30 years." He was at work on June 9, 1979, when six children and one adult were killed in the Ghost Train fire. The park was closed and he thought that would be the end of his association. But in 2004 his contribution was recognised in a mural, painted by Ashley Taylor, artist in residence at the reopened park. Not everyone has the kind of profile that suits a silhouette, Ross confides. "I'm very selective who I pick. I won't do anyone with a receding chin." --