Cirrus@Austlit

'School mates reunited after forty years, each having spent the intervening time interpreting the world around them - Howard with his low key, whimsical eye, Tony in meticulously selected words, both acute observers of life and its many foibles. Sometimes echoing the other's thoughts, sometimes fiercely independent, both authors display a unique and distinct view, inviting us to share their vision.

'Unlike the modern tendency to shock and amaze, the photographs work quietly on the viewer, beckoning us to be a silent witness to a world we have been part of as they hark back to recent decades of Life in Australia. How things have changed, but how much they have stayed the same.

'London's poems likewise, have that uncanny knack of pinpointing those many thoughts we have but perhaps can never express.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This is a story for young and old alike, for who had heard of pirates in the southern waters of Australia? The pirate Benito actually existed, and in fact terrorised the Spanish shipping lanes loaded with treasure plundered from the Incas and Aztecs of South America. History has it, that hunted and driven South trying to elude capture, he buried some of his treasure near Queenscliffe in Victoria, and perhaps later in the Franklin River near Wilsons Promontory. Numerous, well organised parties have searched for the treasure, but so far without success. Live the tale of this cut-throat through the fabulous images of this gifted cartoonist.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Tom Raker flees any number of villains as they seek murder and mayhem. Part fact, part fiction, this novel is based on research into two quite separate phenomena. Over the last forty years Howard Birnstihl has discovered vulnerable age cycles within certain creative types, similar to those discussed by Gail Sheehy in her books Passages and Pathfinders. He has delved a lot deeper. Also, an avid film watcher, he slowly developed an awareness of a basic colour coding movie makers employ to which the general public is totally unaware. Over the years there has been hardly a word written on this subject. This colour coding has become entrenched in both mainstream movies as well as the majority of television dramas. It is about time the public was made aware. Included are details of the age cycle syndrome as well as 50 or so film reviews which illustrate the depth to which this colour code system is entrenched.' (Publication Summary)

'Wattle Creek is a typical Australian country town in the rapidly changing world of the 1960s - draft dodgers, mass migration of the young to the city, hippies, local industry dying and the once proud footy team struggling to keep up the numbers. Thank God 6 o'clock closing is now a thing of the past.
Jock Hathaway, retired post master, his mind a whirr at the wonder of life's many mysteries, is never idle. Those around him can only watch in bemusement as we follow him on his latest venture. We meet many of the town folk and begin to see what makes a rural community tick. 
An inveterate handyman, always ready to help, particularly the ladies, he must also tend to the wishes of the wife's belligerent hospital-bound brother. All this, and managing his new scheme, is becoming a nightmare.
Oh, and by the way, have I mentioned the son-in-law?' (Publication summary)