AustLit

'When all is said and done, Les Erdi's life on the printed page still is not enough. Here, all that can be done is to create a feeling about the man, his actions and his views on life.

'His views may be abrupt, but they are refreshingly, enthusiastically abrupt, and people respond.

'Right up to the end of this book project, I was still learning things about Les. And I still would be if I didn't find the final full stop. Regularly, an innocently made, arbitrary comment would trigger another anecdote, but I couldn't write a two hundred thousand word thesis, however much more accurately it represents the man.

'Here is a man that knows the meaning of life and has a richness of experience to back it up. Les Erdi has the answer to "why are we here?" and has spent more than eight decades acting on the answer. Topics like Hitler, Stalin, war, business, religion, life, death, football, travel, economics, science and evolution all roll off his tongue with equal enthusiasm and authority. He doesn't just think about meaty subjects, he knows about them.

'So perhaps when faced with the enormity of something that's too enigmatic to truly throw reigns over, it's best to just ride as well as you can. Content yourself with a big picture insight because if there isn't a black and white answer to any one person, then there will certainly never be a way to find something definite to pigeon-hole this little Hungarian born, Australian-Jewish businessman and philanthropist.

'That's just one lesson I'll take away from this experience and it will stay with me long after I write the final full stop. I hope you'll feel the same, because this is what it is.' - Neil Montagnana Wallace

Source: Erdi Group website, http://www.erdigroup.com.au/book.htm
Sighted: 09/08/2010