Beckett was a founding staffer (Assistant Editor) of Nation Review, an irreverent and ground-breaking Sunday newspaper, nicknamed 'The Ferret', launched in 1970 by Gordon Barton.
Daylesford friends, concerned about his welfare, arranged for him to rent a miner's cottage high on Wombat Hill, near the Convent Gallery, where he lived for eight months.
His trusted typewriter, usually with a wine glass on one side and a range of reference books on the other, remained in action as he wrote articles for The Age, Australian "Epicure", and other publications.
His obituary, "The Press Loses A Fiery Spirit", written by his friend Kevin Childs, was published in The Age.
In late 1987, a small group of friends, led by John Hepworth, farewelled Beckett on a thundery day in Melbourne when, according to his wishes, his ashes were strewn in the Yarra River.