GERRINGONG
GERROA
Where the Mountains Meet the Sea

Gerringong Authors

Jim Eames

Gerringong resident, Jim Eames, has just published his latest book and is a little taken aback by the reception the book is receiving.

Published by Allen and Unwin and titled The Country Undertaker, Reminiscences of a Bush Life, the book tells the story of Jim's father Mick Eames, who for a time during the 1950s was the local undertaker at Holbrook, about forty miles north of Albury in southern NSW.

Although he takes centre stage in the tale, along with the traumas and humour of undertaking in the bush, it's a story not only about Jim's father but also of the characters that made up the typical country town in those days.

Although it only entered the bookshops early in July, Jim has been busy with radio and newspaper interviews, on such programs as ABC Illawarra and Phillip Adams' Late Night Live and from as far afield as Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland.

"The reaction has been quite overwhelming really and I guess it just shows how interested people are in an Australia that existed fifty or so years ago," Jim said.

"I suppose also that while many of the characters who made Holbrook such a great place to grow up are still in evidence further out in the bush, sadly there's perhaps less of a tolerance of them today and in that sense it's our loss."

The Country Undertaker was launched locally at the Terrace Bookshop in Kiama on Friday, 22 July a few days before Jim was scheduled to set off on a promotional tour through southern NSW with appearances at Albury, Holbrook, Wagga and Griffith.

Jim and his wife Jose have lived in Gerringong since 1997.

The Country
    UNDERTAKER

Reminiscences of a bush life

"Loved it… Jim Eames' voyage around his hard-drinking, ever-entrepreneurial father, Mick, is an utter delight. Snakes in the grave, booze, bonhomie, lethal country footie games and a cast of splendid eccentrics enliven this evocative and unforgettable account of growing up in mid-twentieth century Australia. Damon Runyon eat your heart out." - Tim Bowden

This is the true story of Jim Eames' father: football player, coach, taxi driver and country undertaker extraordinaire. Set in the NSW town of Holbrook, The Country Undertaker is all about a spirit of community and resourcefulness from a simpler, yet harsher time in our history.

Meet Uncle George, who took on the Alabama Kid and lived to tell the tale; an odd-job man called Sausage who sleeps in an open jail cell in exchange for handy work at the local police station; Alf, the practical joke-playing publican so dedicated to his customers he risks life and licence for his customers; and Kelly O'Brien, drover, gravedigger and fearless snake-dispatcher, along with a whole cast of other supporting eccentrics.

The Searchers:

Quest for Lost Aircraft in the Southwest Pacific

At war's end in the Pacific, the fate of a thousand missing Australian airmen hung in the balance. Headed by tenacious Squadron Leader Keith Rundle, the RAAF's search and recovery party covered countless thousands of kilometres by air, by sea and on foot through often hostile and trackless country seeking clues about their disappearance. In their quest to bring home the stories - and sometimes also the remains - of downed aircrew, the searchers frequently traversed steep and hazardous terrain, even clinging precariously to cliff-faces to investigate crash sites. In the jungle, crocodiles and snakes were not their only enemies - isolated pockets of armed Japanese soldiers remained at large.

Biography

Jim Eames was born in Albury in 1939 and began his career as a journalist with the Border Morning Mail in Albury in the 1960s. Later he worked for the Melbourne Sun News Pictorial, and spent several years in Papua New Guinea as editor of the New Guinea Times Courier, before joining the Australian Department of Civil Aviation as its Director of Public Relations. In 1975 he became the chief Press Officer at Qantas and later the airline's Director of Public Affairs. He is now retired and resides in Gerringong, NSW.

Purchase

The Country Undertaker is available in paperback from the Terrace Bookshop, Collins Street, Kiama for $24.95.
The Searchers is available in paperback from Queensland University Press $35 RRP