AustLit

'In the style of his bestselling The Last Hermit of Tasmania's West Coast (Forty South Publishing, 2021), Geoff Harwood is back with tales of other legendary Tasmanian characters.

'For his years and sins, Geoff Harwood has met, witnessed lived through, and known many Tasmanian legends. Through those years and along the way, he may have created a few myths of his own. 

'In this anthology of Tasmanian legends, he hangs them out to dry and to share with all who love a good story - or thirty or so!

'Depicted with humour, compassion and accuracy, here are the salts of the Tasmanian earth. Dip into this well of entertainment anywhere you like and be rewarded. These shorts are short-cuts to legends.' (Publication summary) 

'Clarence John Lyell Stevens - Jackey - preferred a life of poverty and isolation to a society that had seriously let him down. He had been a hermit since returning from the Second World War. “He can’t bear to be anywhere near others,” Queenstown old timers told Geoff Harwood. “If he sees you, he will run away and hide. He won’t talk to anybody.” Yet Jackey did talk to Geoff.

'Across a creek and through a dense thicket of coral fern, Jackey’s distinctive footprints led Geoff to Jack’s camp, a ramshackle structure shared with the Brown Serpent. 

'Geoff became a regular visitor, and somehow Jack always knew if Geoff was coming. He would stoke up his tiny fire and, in its feeble glow, Geoff slowly pieced together Jack’s remarkable, tragic, yet strangely uplifting story.

'The Last Hermit is testament to a most extraordinary friendship.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.