Everyone knows Storm Boy who likes to wander alone through the Coorong, the hauntingly beautiful setting of this classic story of a boy and his pelican friend, Mr Percival. So where's Greg Rowe now? Alive and well and living in Canada.
The creator of this beautiful tale, Colin Thiele, was born into a German family in the Barossa Valley, and spoke only German until he went to school. Sadly, he passed away in 2006, aged 85, on the same day as Australian media personality Steve Irwin. It was a case of brawn over brain and Colin Thiele's passing received barely a mention in the Australian media despite the more than a hundred books he wrote.
One of which I've just discovered in an op-shop: Swan Song, which is also set in the Coorong and also of a boy who rears a black swan who becomes his constant companion and ultimately helps save his life.
At only 190 double-spaced pages, I finished this short antidote to all the blood and gore we see nightly on the telly in one short session on the sun-filled verandah. It left me wanting for more, and so I treated myself to the movie Storm Boy as well.
If you like, you can join me here.
