Robin Laidlaw moved to the Territory as a teacher in bush communities in the early 70s and became a well-known second-hand dealer.
\r\nBut he will be remembered first as a stand-up comedian with a passionate interest in Central Australian issues.
\r\nRobin, tall and lanky with a pronounced Scottish brogue, had several incarnations in his comic career.
\r\nHis genius for making people laugh first became apparent when he was a teacher working in bush schools, endearing him to his students but less so the Education Department.
\r\nHis other career as a second-hand dealer, running a couple of the town\'s most colourful shops, began when he was headmaster at Finke trying to source a second-hand tape recorder for a friend.
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\r\nRobin couldn\'t find one and took advantage of a gap in the market, quickly establishing a profile as a canny Scot with a skill for repartee.
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\r\nBut friends such as David Oakes knew Robin as a generous man who gave freely of his talents and was kind to people in need.
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\r\nDavid teamed up with Robin to create a restaurant and street theatre company called ASPRO (Alice Springs Production).
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\r\nThe duo never hesitated to tackle social issues, including the proposed flood mitigation dam and the rapid development of the town and destruction of its old buildings.
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\r\nAlready larger than life, Robin would sometimes arrive at protests on stilts, giving what friend Mike Gillam described as a "huge dimensional advantage" to the protest movement.
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\r\nMr Gillam said: "In the art of protest, Robin was irreplaceable."
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\r\nLater in the 80s Robin worked with Mahony Kiely entertaining children in Alice Springs and beyond as the Fruit Salad Kids Circus, in which he once again found himself in the role of a teacher.
\r\nHe pioneered theatre sports and became mainstay of the Alice Springs Desert Patrol, which he formed by donning a special uniform and attaching himself to a portable emu which he rode across Europe, America and Asia, promoting the Territory. His sons Silas and Jethro joined him on patrol.
One of the Desert Patrol\'s most memorable performances was at the gates of Pine Gap, when Robin\'s "emu" enlivened a protest by pecking at a line of federal police. The police had no choice but to frown and bear it.
\r\nWhile in his 50s, Robin outfoxed a field of younger men to win the Alice Springs bachelor of the year Award.
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\r\nA few years ago Robin developed cancer, but remained irrepressible for much of his long illness, joining choirs and performing to sick children at the Alice Springs Hospital and Lismore Base hospitals as Clown Doctor, Dr Dazzle.
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\r\nDuring this time he also won medals in the Alice Springs Masters Games and continued to protest.
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\r\nHe was incensed at the destruction of the heritage-listed Rieff building by the NT Labor Government.
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\r\nRobin had developed a second home in the East Coast seaside town of Byron Bay, and died in hospital in nearby Lismore on Sunday morning.
\r\nRobin had three children with his former wife Pam: Silas, Sam and Jethro.