作者: David Leslie

The author was born in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Indonesia in 1942. Along with his family, he survived horrendous conditions then spent a year recuperating in Scotland before returning to Indonesia only to immigrate to Australia in 1949 seeking a better life and safety from terrorism. They settled in Toowoomba, Queensland, where the author and his twin brother attended a church run Primary School. There they enjoyed the company of Australian country boys and learnt the manly arts of rugby and cricket. The twins became noted essayists and public speakers. Four years followed at a state high school. The author was never entirely comfortable in this new environment and academically his last year was a disaster. At seventeen he got a job as a hustler, engaged in outback oil search. The rigorous camp life suited him well but education was unfinished business so at age twenty-six he returned to Toowoomba to a new job and night lectures in civil engineering. He graduated as a design office technician. A sporting jack of all trades, he enjoyed karate, scuba diving, and surfing. He played water polo in which he represented his city. He was a promising motor racer but this and all other sports inevitably fell victim to the great passion of his life, breeding and racing thoroughbred horses. For the author these were also turbulent and ultimately regrettable social times. Eventually he left office life to renovate removal homes on small rural holdings, simultaneously working for a contract fencer and in dam construction. But a latent desire to write emerged and he now lives in a small country town with his horses and rescue pets whilst working on this, his first book. He is an enthusiastic albeit miniscule sharetrader and walks, cycles, and swims for recreation.