It's said funerals can be an occasion when people learn more about a person they may only have known in a single conext. John Ball's inteests were many and varied and it's likely the packed service reflected this. We all hope to be remembered for living a good life. John could certainly claim that.
When the final draft is complete the next stage is finding a publisher. Then there will be a need for a structural edit. That's when the real work starts.
The occasion was a sad one, but a chance meeting and conversation meant clarifying a memory and ultimately strengthening a chapter - even if it involved a significant re-write.
Part memoir of an accidental activist, and part chronicle of a community's campaign to stop a pulp mill from polluting their valley. The end of the long and winding writing road ihas almost been reached.
Don't despair is Thomas Mayo's message to all those who voted Yes in the 2023 referendum for an Indigenous Voice to parliament. Another is to review the accepted history of Australia. It was far more brutal than most Australians realise. But now is a time to look forward and Mayo has suggestions on how to go about doing this.
Tasmanians are split over the need for a third stadium as the price for finally having an AFL team, and it's Macquarie Point location is also controversial.
Completing a first draft by the end of January was always going to be a stretch and so it proved. On a positive note though the final few chapters are planned, I know exactly where this book is going, and I reckon I’m a good two thirds finished. Anyway, January 31 was always going to... Read more »
Chatting with my lovely mentor earlier this month resulted in firming up the timeline for this book project. An important point to consider was that it will be 20 years since Tasmanians first learned of plans to build a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. Details of an overheard lunchtime conversation at a Hobart waterfront... Read more »