the inspiration for sandy came from a neighbour, a mr whittle, whom humphries knew as a boy, and was portrayed in a short story, "sandy stone's big week", written by humphries (under the pseudonym h. grahame) in 1956 but not published until 1958 (in a canberra student magazine "prometheus"). humphries describes sandy, originally called dusty, as an "elderly, childless man" living in the suburbs of melbourne. his vocal mannerisms came from an aged man humphries met on bondi beach.