Nothing better can happen to you during the holiday season than to spend a couple of hours every day in a cool spot under a shady tree reading an entertaining book that has a page-turning message to renew your soul.
It won’t surprise you to discover that I enthusiastically recommend that any one of my five books is just the tonic you need this Christmas, so please go to my website,
everaldcompton.com
and order one or more of these best sellers-
*CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN – my public journey
*WALKING WITH THE MAN – my faith journey
*A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET – my expected end of life experience
*DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS – my view of Australian history
*THE MAN ON THE TWENTY DOLLAR NOTES – the role model of my life
Each one will cost you only $25 plus postage.
Or you can buy all 5 for only 100 dollars plus postage.
I will personally sign each book you buy and will add your name (or the name of the person you want me to post it to as your gift) plus a greeting.
Better still, send me a direct message on Twitter, Facebook, Bluesky and we can enjoy a happy chat while you buy.
Enjoy Christmas and 2026.
Cheers.
Everald
(The portrait below is me on one of my better days.)
An active group of Progressive Christians meet regularly at Redcliffe to debate the core issues of modern Christianity.
They call themselves the REDCLIFFE EXPLORERS and they are interesting people who have expansive minds.
I am delighted to have accepted their invitation to meet with them on Tuesday of the coming week, 4 November, at 7.00pm, to discuss my book, WALKING WITH THE MAN BUT NOT TO CHURCH.
Venue is the Redcliffe Uniting Church from whom they rent the Ocean Room for the evening.
If you would like to be with them on Tuesday evening, they will warmly welcome your attendance and invite you to join them in asking challenging questions about my book. I will too. Come early and enjoy a coffee.
WALKING WITH THE MAN has been written in secular language for the 90% of people who don’t go to Church but want to find a positive way to follow in the footsteps of Jesus the Man and make Australia a more caring and cohesive society.
Most readers enjoy my book WALKING WITH THE MAN BUT NOT TO CHURCH as it charts an inspirational pathway of life for the 90% of Australians who have left churches and have no intention of ever returning.
They reject organised religion and its ancient outlook on life.
My book sets out a plan for us to make Jesus the Man our role model and the cornerstone of our reasons for being Australians. It does so in simple practical terms that ignore creeds, dogma, exclusion, hypocrisy, and bigotry but have purpose, human decency, personal responsibility and collective well being as core values.
Buy a signed personalised copy today and enjoy a page turning read about 65 great people who have walked with the Man throughout the 2000 years since he was crucified.
Go to my personal website, everaldcompton.com, to buy it for 25 dollars plus 10 dollars postage.
You can also buy it as an audio book or ebook or unsigned print book from any online book store.
Currently, my friend Grantlee Kieza is Australia’s best selling history author, a honour that he richly deserves.
Over the past decade he has published a dozen books about the history of Australia that some of you will have read. Absolute gems like Sister Viv, Flinders, Hudson Fysh, Banjo, The Remarkable Mrs Reibey, Lawson, Monash, Banks, Macquarie etc. If you have not read them, I recommend you do so right now as you will enjoy them immensely.
Some years back when Grantlee was a popular journalist at Brisbane’s Courier Mail he wrote some feature articles about my life and work. We struck up a close friendship from which I have hugely benefitted as Grantlee is my mentor who helps me immensely to improve my personal skills as an amateur author.
He especially helped me to write my last three books,
A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET, CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN and WALKING WITH THE MAN BUT NOT TO CHURCH.
This week we met again for one of our regular lunches where he gave me a signed copy of his most recent book about legendary Australian swimmer of a century ago ANNETTE KELLERMAN who swam the English Channel a century ago wearing ‘shocking’ swim gear that enabled women thereafter to swim publicly in ‘revealing bathers’.
We chatted happily for a couple of hours about the books we are currently writing and we are helping one another with research.
Grantlee’s latest will be about MRS PENFOLD, founder of the wine empire.
Mine will be a novel, WALK IN THE SPIRIT, coauthored with Neil Florence. Neil and I are long standing mates who are both 93 years old and we have been advised by our publisher that never before in history have two 93 year old authors written a book together.
The truth is that Grantlee and I love the relaxing pastime of writing books.
I have another three planned in the years between now and my century. Grantlee will easily double that number.
When I reached the outer fringe of old age at 80, I took up book writing seriously and have over the past 13 years published 5 of which I am proud.
The Man on the Twenty Dollar Notes, Dinner with the Founding Fathers, A Beautiful Sunset, Catching the Linville Train and Walking with the Man but not to Church.
All 5 are selling well, but my personal choice of my best work is THE MAN. Some of its readers have written reviews of it on Amazon and Goodreads & I have recorded just one or two lines from each, as many have more than 50 words.
IAN STEWART- A fabulous read. An easy read. Draws you in with its integrity, credibility and subtle challenges. CEC PEDERSEN – Everald writes about Jesus the Man without the religious gobbly gook and rhetoric and hypocrisy that has driven so many away from mainstream religion. JOHN LYONS – Everald has captured the essence of christian values and practice. STEPHEN KOUKALAS – Everald strikes at the heart of what a good society should be, something missing with many faiths nowadays. TONY BRETHERTON – Everald fearlessly sets out how churches and religion should be if Jesus is to be followed.
BILL SYNNOT – Everald chronicles his journey as a Christian from childhood onwards. JOY SCHLOSS – I share with Everald the strong conviction that Jesus is my primary model for life. JEFF GILLING – In his trademark down to earth conversational relatable style, Everald’s fifth book is a compelling read. DEAN GOULD – Thought provoking call to reconsider Jesus the Man as opposed to the curated and institutionalised version of Christ that most of us grew up with. ALISON COURTICE – As an atheist and humanist, I share values with Everald who is the longest serving Elder in the Uniting Church in Australia.
ANDREW CATSARAS – A wonderful and effortless read. Everald is the living embodiment of what it is to walk with the Man. DAVID McGIFFIN – Everald fills a very intriguing place in the world of religion/philosophy/atheism, principally appealing to the non believer. RUSSELL HARPER – Everald’s book is written with respectful but ‘gut level’ honesty. ANDREW SCHULZ – Walking with the Man is a reflection of a lifetime of analytical deductions and deep passion by its author Everald Compton. CHRIS WRIGHT – A compelling and thought provoking exploration of Everald’s unwavering commitment to living Christianity.
CAROL KENT – Everald’s book is very thought provoking. He has the courage of his convictions and just gets better with age. A READER – Everald’s life journey is an inspiration for Australian’s of all ages. MICHAEL SPRINGER – I am not a Church goer and I am delighted that Everald’s book enthusiastically captures the core principles of Jesus. DAVID MUIR – Everald walks the talk and follows the example of Jesus and people like Flynn of the Inland. MICHAEL NAYLER – Powerful and thought provoking. Everald challenges Christians and non-believers alike to understand Jesus message.
DON MORRIS – Everald, you are a master. Whether you are a believer or not, this book is most thought evoking. GRANTLEE KIEZA – A fascinating and thought provoking book. ROBERT TREDENICK – A really well researched and thoughtful read. Very good. DAVID HETHERINGTON – Warm, wise, insightful book that shares valuable insights for those who believe and those who dont. PETER McGIFFIN – Compelling read that shares a lifetime of thoughtful analysis of Christianity.
A MAN OF THE PEOPLE – This book is like a compass to give people a guide on how to live a fulfilling and compassionate life. ANNIE T – Everald has written a great book that will entertain you and make you wiser. MARK RUDDER – Every book club should have this book on their reading list. Guaranteed to provoke lively discussion. SEABASS88 – This thought provoking book encourages readers to embrace values that foster connection, compassion and sense of purpose. STEPHEN – Have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book on how to improve our society for the better and leave a legacy.
MAEDO – This book for all its many shortfalls jolts the reader to rethink all ‘givens’. DIANE DROMGOLD – Congratulations Everald for your inspired writing and your faithful commitment as a true follower of Jesus the Man. GREG CARY – This book is a journey worth taking. Enjoy the conclusions of a wonderful man and his long and fascinating religious journey. ANONYMOUS – This is a rare find. An easy read that feels like a dinner conversation with good friends. PAJ – Sensational and absorbing read. It follows the simple lessons of a man named Jesus and not all the fuzzie noise in between.
CARRIE – I am one of the 90% of Australians who do not attend Church but consider myself to be a person of faith and belief. Have a read of this book, you won’t be disappointed. GREG McMAHON – A great read from a great Australian that diverges widely from doctrines taught by christian schools and churches. MICHAEL TEYS – This is a very readable account of the lives of saints and sinners that is uplifting and inspirational. BEVERLEY BELL – Walking with the Man has captured for me the teachings of the human Jesus instead of preaching about an exalted divine Jesus. REBECCA LEVINGSTON – Everald’s energy is irrepressible. To know more about his personal philosophy in life is a gift. We can all grow from his curiosity and care.
BRYAN GILMOUR – Everald articulates the simple and practical principles that underpin the life of Jesus. GRAHAM DOOLEY – Everald explains the turning away from Christianity by the bulk of the historically Christian world. WALLACE TAYLOR – This book unpicks irrelevant dogma from the allegories that aim to convey the timeless messages of decency. AMAZON READER – Thought provoking read that will lift your spirit. LINDSAY MARSHALL – A must read for churchgoers, those who no longer attend and those who have never been.
ANONYMOUS PHONE CALL FROM AN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN – I greatly resent the way christian missionaries have demeaned the spirituality of my people and insisted we must reject it, follow their religion and join their Church. But I have read your book and am convinced that Jesus the Man will positively relate to our dreamtime and our worship of the land. I intend to now walk with him but go nowhere near a Church.
EMAIL FROM A LAPSED ANGLICAN -I have run away from Church for 50 years but your book has convinced me that I cannot run away from Jesus the Man any longer. I am now proud working partner.
MESSAGE THAT MADE WORTHWHILE MY TWO YEARS OF WRITING ABOUT THE MAN – When my parents divorced they were declared sinners by our local priest and refused the sacraments. I have never been back to church since then. Now, I have read your book. So impressed with it I bought six copies for friends who do not go to church. They were inspired too. Now we meet for lunch every month and as working partners of THE MAN we do our best to make our community a better place to live happily and positively.
You can buy a signed copy of WALKING WITH THE MAN from my website – everaldcompton.com – or online from Amazon or any online bookseller as paperback, kindle or audiobook. Alternatively, send me a direct message on Twitter or Facebook or Bluesky
Enjoy the read and the journey.
Everald
The splendid painting below is the work of my friend Noela Lowien of Kilcoy. It depicts the Good Samaritan in modern Australian form as the Bush Samaritan whom you will note is female. As you will expect, she is a working partner of Jesus the Man.
With significant help from three eminent Australians, Paul de Jersey, David Muir and Anthony Lynham, I have drafted a Preamble I believe our Founding Fathers should have adopted as the opening statement of the Australian Constitution in 1901.
I have lodged a petition to Parliament requesting that a Referendum be held on the same day as the 2028 Federal Election so that future Parliaments, with positive backing of voters, are required to uphold the values we regard as the ground of our being as Australians.
Here are the words I propose and for which I seek your support in signing the petition.
‘We, the people of Australia,
*Proudly acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as original occupants and custodians of our continent and islands who cared for our land, water, flora, and fauna for many thousands of years.
*Recognise that our nation is enriched by people from many ancestries who have chosen to make Australia their home.
*Affirm our commitment to democratic, representative, and secular government of our sovereign nation founded on rule of law, equality before the law, and government by the people.
*Believe in justice through independent courts and equality of social, economic, and political opportunity for all in a manner that minimises inequality.
*Seek visionary reform of our colonial heritage and reject racism, sexism, class distinction, poverty, all forms of violence, and domination by wealth, ideology, religion.
*Affirm the right of every citizen to a vote of equal value and basic benefits of home, food, education, employment, medical care, and social interaction.
*Uphold family life as a cornerstone asset of society.
*Aspire to a cohesive society that rejects greed and is based on honesty, decency, sharing, and goodwill.
*Acknowledge that our freedom of speech and religion is based on our acceptance of responsibility as citizens.
*Seek peace with all nations and our maintenance of global order in matters relating to peace, trade, health and environment.
*Strive to ensure through our collective efforts that Australia is a role model of an enlightened and just society.
With hope and determination, we commit ourselves to this Constitution.’
I welcome your recommendations for improvements.
In my book, DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS, I describe the huge effort made by Alfred Deakin at the Federation Conventions of the 1890’s to have a Preamble inserted in the Constitution that would set out the values on which our new nation would be founded. Churches opposed any debate on it as they claimed they were were responsible for the morals and values of our nation, a task for which they have significantly failed.
Each and very one of us has an inner personal power and our way of using it determines the quality of our lives.
Some of us decide also to add a power to our lives that is beyond our own until we take steps to welcome it.
In my case, during the 93 years since my mother Thelma first took me to Sunday School in Linville, I have added to my life the powerful influence of JESUS THE MAN, not the Christ whom Churches created. I am certain that my decision to do this has added a significant dimension to my being.
THE MAN is indeed the cornerstone of my life and he has inspired me always to reach for the stars, while empowering me to pick myself up and start again whenever I fall or fail (which is often).
Nevertheless, I am pleased also to acknowledge that I have valued friends whose lives are successfully based on a cornerstone of influence that is different to mine – Confucius, Mahommed, Gandhi etc. They have my huge respect, except for those who worship a football team or a pop star.
So it was that, a couple of years ago, I decided to write 2 books that would convey, in secular language, my search for the ground of my being. I must confess that my decision was more to convince myself, rather than you, that I have not been wasting my time.
The first is a novel called A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET.
It tells the fictional story of a famous Anglican Priest who is stricken with terminal cancer and decides to depart via Voluntary Assisted Dying, causing huge controversy by doing so. He decides to make his last 3 months the most caring, compassionate and happy of his life. On the day before he dies he invites his friends to drop by for a drink, creating a delightfully pleasant final curtain call. I was not feeling morbid when I wrote this book. I just wanted to convince myself that death is a wonderfully inevitable final curtain call that I will enjoy and that I do not expect or want or will accept any eternal rewards.
The second was published only a few months ago and is called WALKING WITH THE MAN, BUT NOT TO CHURCH.
I wrote it in non religious language in the hope that my readers will be the 90% of people who do not go to Church and never will. It tells a personal story of my journey of faith from being a fundamentalist to becoming an open minded progressive during which I changed from being a Christian to become a WORKING PARTNER OF JESUS THE MAN who actively walks with him to create a better world. It contains many thoughtful pages about great people who have influenced my life . My hope is that many working partners will join with me in fostering Australia as a model nation that finds, understands and actively accepts the ground of its being as a caring and sharing society.
I now have a special offer for you personally that is a much better alternative than buying these two books via an order on my website or via my publishers or an online bookseller.
To take it up, I invite you to
*Send me a direct message on X (twitter) or Bluesky.
*Do the same on Facebook via Messenger.
*Go to my website https://everaldcompton.com. Do not place an order, but send me a personal message on the link that says Contact Me.
*If you already have my mobile phone number or email, please use it to make contact.
No matter which method you use, all that I need is your postal address, phone & email. I will send you details on how to pay me online and will sign each book, adding a personal greeting as well.
The special cost, not available elsewhere, which is inclusive of both books and postage, is a total of 50 dollars.
Enjoy reading them both. I feel confident you will find it to be money well spent.
Then send me a message to arrange a 5 minute phone chat so we can learn from your each other of our experience in searching and finding the ground of our being.
On Friday evenings Helen and I enjoy a couple of relaxing hours watching a television movie.
Two days ago we chose ANNE OF GREEN GABLES on ABC iview. It has recently been released by Canada Television.
Our choice was made as the book played a significant role in the life of Vivienne, my elder and only sister, who passed away just a few years ago.
Viv and I grew up in the years of the Great Depression of the 1930’s when our dad Herb was a labourer earning the minimum wage and we struggled to survive. One Christmas our mother Thelma gave each of us a book. It was precious as it was the very first and only book that was ours.
I got Robert Louis Stevenson’s great boys book KIDNAPPED. Viv received L N Montgomery’s legendary best seller ANNE OF GREEN GABLES and she loved it. I watched on as she read it over and over again countless times, often telling me that one day she would visit Avonlea on Prince Edward Island in Canada ‘to meet Anne’.
Viv lived to be 93 but finally made her pilgrimage to Anne about a decade before her passing. I phoned her when she reached Green Gables and I listened with happiness for her as she quietly wept joyful tears.
She often told me down the years that the wonderful message of Anne was that you always must be sensible. Viv was. I missed out.
I salute the millions of young women world wide who went on to lead sensible and happy lives because of Anne.
On the day I celebrated my 80th birthday I decided to become an author who would write best sellers. I had written a few books about fund raising in my earlier life, as well as a biography for my family, but no serious novels that could find a place on shelves of book shops.
So, I decided it was time to get serious and made plans to write and publish 5 books before I reached 90. I failed to achieve this goal as I only published the fifth at age 93. Never mind, my plan is to write another 4 before I reach my century.
I made an instant decision that my first would be about my boyhood hero, John Flynn, known in my era as Flynn of the Inland, founder of the Flying Doctor Service. Took me a while to work out where to start as I knew that, if the opening pages don’t grip readers, they toss the book away. So, I decided to open with an account of the day when the Presbyterian Church sacked Flynn for being too visionary and not fundamentalist. So it was that THE MAN ON THE TWENTY DOLLAR NOTES was born and it sold well. People love to read about nation builders.
My second was DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS. I wrote it as an historical novel based on the lives of great leaders who founded Australia on 1 January 1901 (not 26 Jan). The key leaders were Barton, Deacon, Griffith and others. I based it around a fictional dinner where they review all the battles they fought over the 13 years it took to achieve a Federation of Australian States. I kept rigidly to the historical facts and created dialogue based on the known character of each of the heroes. Good authors don’t create history.
Then came A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET. This is pure fiction, not history. I found fiction to be much harder to write as it requires a lot of imagination. The story is about a famous Anglican Priest who gets a terminal illness and decides to depart via voluntary assisted dying. Huge controversy erupts but he decides to make his last three months the finest of his life. Sells mainly to people and families who face end of life challenges.
Number 4 was CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN. A political history of nine decades of my life. Lots of chapters about world events that impacted on me, people I worked with and wonderful places I visited. All happened from age 6 when I took my first journey out from the small village of Linville where my life had begun. It was a train to Toogoolawah. Gradually, trains took me on many journeys. Again, I do not distort historical facts, but I hugely enjoyed researching it all on google. Did not have to visit a library. Fact is you can only become an author if you enjoy the long search for excellence. Once it becomes hard work, give it up.
The last, so far, is WALKING WITH THE MAN, BUT NOT TO CHURCH. I have written it in secular language for the 90% of us who don’t go to Church and never will. It simply creates a modern example of the original disciples who went out to the world to ask people to follow a great man, their friend Jesus. The Bible did not exist for another 400 years. They did not tell anyone that they must be saved from their sins. They just talked about the Man and I follow their example today. My challenge was to quietly evaluate all the dogmas and fears that Churches tried to embed in my soul for 9 decades and present a compelling case on how we can create a new world by WALKING WITH THE MAN. I chose my words carefully and redrafted them 15 times so as to get it right. If you want to be an author, your calling is to enjoy the long haul and write for your audience, not your own ego.
Now I am writing book number 6. Its a novel based on ‘Walking with the Man’ that will happily take my initial message to a more powerful and inspirational level. While doing this I am learning to become a ‘page turner’. Our readers must keep wanting to turn the next page before going to sleep.
So, how do you start? My strategy is simple. I grab my computer, sit in a comfortable lounge chair, pour myself a whisky of top quality that will expand my mind, and start typing the first 1000 words. I stop to read it and do considerable redrafting as I never get any page right the first time. Then I gradually expand it 5000 words at a time, redrafting all the way and being aware that publishers don’t like books of less than 60000 words.
Now, may I invite you to read all of my 5 books. As you read them, take notes of how you feel I could have written them better. This will help you to plan a personal strategy for your book number one.
Click on Shop, then click on 5 book special which you can buy for 100 dollars, including postage. (If you buy them individually it costs you 70 dollars more as 5 lots of postage are involved and there is no book discount)
I will sign and post them to you as well as sending you my contact details so you can call me to have a yarn about how you are going in writing your first book.
Cheers
Everald
PS. Below is a page from my website. The photo is me on the day I received the Order of Australia for a second time.
Many of my friends and followers don’t read books, they listen to them. They do so for many reasons, but mainly its because they just don’t have time to sit down and read.
So they enjoy listening to books while they ride on buses trains ferries planes or while driving cars trucks taxis ubers tractors or doing housework cooking gardening or simply because their eyesight is in decline.
For whatever reason, an audiobook is ideal for many people and less costly, particularly as no postage is involved. Right now the audio price is a bargain. As the book becomes better known, the price will rise.
You will note that I have done the narration personally as my publisher, Jason Smith of Clark and Mackay, told me that readers want to hear me speak with conviction about what I believe, something a professional narrator may not be able to do. I must say that it took a heavy toll on my 93 years old throat, but I enjoyed the three day experience.
Go to Audiobooks or Spotify or similar internet sites to purchase WALKING WITH THE MAN as an audio book.
If you would like to buy a paperback copy of WALKING WITH THE MAN just go to my website everaldcompton.com or send me a direct message on X or BlueSky or Facebook Messenger giving me your postal address and mobile phone number and I will organise a signed copy and let you have banking details to remit 40 dollars which includes postage.
You can get it on ebook too. To make sure it was working, I got it easily on my Kindle via Amazon at a bargain price.
I am delighted to invite you to go to my website – everaldcompton.com – to buy my two finest books via a special offer.
Total price is 50 dollars, postage free, (normal price including postage is 70 dollars)
Both will be signed with a personal greeting to you.
CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN is about my life journey after I left my boyhood home in Linville in the Brisbane River Valley. It became public in 1956 when at 25 I was appointed by the Presbyterian Church of Queensland to be Organising Secretary of the team that built St. Andrews War Memorial Hospital on Wickham Terrace in Brisbane and led me to organise similar community projects in 26 nations. There are 80 chapters about significant people and events and places that influenced all my endeavours.
WALKING WITH THE MAN, BUT NOT TO CHURCH describes my faith journey since my mother first took me to Church in Linville when I was just three weeks old and I have kept going for 93 years. It is a secular book written especially for the 90% of Australians who do not attend Church and never will. Its all about us becoming Working Partners of Jesus the Man and walking with him to create a more caring and creative society. There are 65 chapters about extraordinary people of faith who moulded my life.
I am not noted for humility but I venture the opinion that your 50 dollars investment in these two books will repay you in personal dividends as we expand our contribution to the enhancement of humanity.
Come to the Royal on the Park in Alice Street Brisbane on Friday, 22 November, for lunch with me (and lots of friends) at 12.30pm.
You will receive a signed copy of WALKING WITH THE MAN.
As well as enjoying a drink, an Everald Burger and coffee.
Plus some excellent speakers.
Rebecca Levingston will launch my book. I very happily share a radio chat with Rebecca on Radio 612 ABC Brisbane every Monday evening just after the 8.00pm News.
I will respond, as will my publisher, Jason Smith of Clark and Mackay.
David Muir, Chair of the Clem Jones Trust, will be our MC and Jan Schutt, Manager of the Royal on the Park, will launch the Everald Burger.
All for just 90 dollars.
This includes the satisfaction of knowing that the profit from the function goes to Dorcas ACTS, the community service arm of the Aspley Uniting Church, that I have been chairing for 15 years. We give direct cash grants to people in crisis situations.
To sign up for an enjoyable time, just call Events at Royal on the Park on 07 31121677 right now. Have your credit card ready.
Briefly, let me give you some headlines about Walking with the Man. I will tell you more at the launch.
It is written for the 90% of the population who do not go to Church and invites readers to.
*Adopt Jesus the Man to be your role model for life.
*Try to live by The Sermon on the Mount
*Walk with him as a Working Partner to help create a better world.
*Whenever you face a problem, ask yourself ‘how would The Man handle this issue?’.
*Invite 4 friends to join you for a meal several times a year to plan how you can work together to enhance the society in which you live.
*Be ready and willing to get personally involved in challenges as you work hard to create a world powered by compassion, justice and vision as you walk with The Man towards the light on the hill.
See you on 22/11.
Everald
(only 93, happily married to Helen for 66 years, and writing my next book)
Here is a painting that will appear on the front cover of my new book.
‘WALKING WITH THE MAN, but not to Church.’
The painting, plus 104000 words, is now with my publisher, Clark and Mackay.
The paperback, ebook & audiobook will be launched at the Royal on the Park in Brisbane at lunch on Friday, 22 November, when the hotel will also launch on its menu an EVERALD BURGER.
I have written this book specifically for the 90% who do not go to Church and never will.
It encourages people to adopt JESUS THE MAN as their role model for life and become his working partner in creating a compassionate, caring, peaceful world in which everyone has the opportunity to get a fair go at a meaningful life. It has 65 page turning chapters about famous people of world history who tried to achieve this.
The painting by my talented friend, Noela Lowien of Kilcoy, is based on the Bible story of the Good Samaritan. You will note that, to be relevant to the world of today, it features a female BUSH SAMARITAN.
If you would like to receive an invitation to make a booking to attend the launch, send me a direct message on Twitter or Facebook, or a text or email and I will make certain you receive one. In the meantime, make a diary note of it.
See you on 22 November. It is a fund raiser for DORCAS ACTS, the community service arm of the Aspley Uniting Church that I chair. We make financial grants to people who are doing it really tough.
My biggest challenge in the meantime is to be the narrator of the audio book that will take 18 hours to complete. I will do it over three successive days in August.
Was browsing through a book shop a few days ago and found this one. It is so fascinating I read it within 48 hours. A real page turner.
Its about the close friendship of our former Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and the founder of Hillsong Church, Brian Houston, that hugely embraced religion, politics, power and money, especially government grants and tax concessions.
They had a dream of making Australia a Kingdom of God that would be a beacon for the world to follow and they made a huge effort to bring it to reality. Then both crashed at the same time, bringing their dream to an end.
Their commitment was huge and cannot be doubted. Their strategy was fatally flawed.
Read it and make up your own mind about its validity and the relationship between religion and politics that now dominates our world.
Its author, David Hardaker, is highly regarded investigative journalist who spent 5 years of detailed research in writing it and he reveals all his sources. I did not find any nasty gossip in it and he does not call us to join any crusade against Morrison or Houston.
Enjoy the read and consider its impact on our lives.
Enjoy reading my book about how Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin and other giants of Australian History created a nation of six States on New Years Day, 1901, the very first Australia Day.
It was an extraordinary achievement that was attained within 12 years from when Henry Parkes made his powerful Federation Speech at Tenterfield.
Now, the Constitution they wrote is out of date and Australians keep voting NO to any changes to it as they dont trust politicians to do the right thing.
So a movement of the people, not politicians, is coming together to write a totally new Constitution based on the significant challenges of a modern world of huge change that may soon be dominated by artificial intelligence.
Read DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS over Easter, then offer to join a team of non politicians who want to write a CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE and present it to Parliament as a Petition.
You can buy a signed copy for 35 dollars, including postage, from my website,
My friend Noela Lowien who lives at Kilcoy in the Brisbane River Valley (not far from Linville) is a talented artist who paints splendid portraits. I retained her services to create the front cover of my book CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN.
It now hangs in my home office so I decided to use it as I convey to you my season’s greetings as Noela has done a great job of making me look human.
May I also recommend to you for holiday reading 5 books I really enjoyed this year?
FLINDERS. Superb tale of life of Matthew Flinders by my good friend Grantlee Kieza. Flinders was first person to sail around our continent and name it AUSTRALIA.
KILLING THATCHER. Wonderfully researched book by Rory Carroll on the attempt by the Irish Republican Army to assassinate Margaret Thatcher at the Brighton Hotel when she was in her prime as British Prime Minister.
THE LIGHT WE CARRY. Hugely readable book by Michelle Obama on how we can connect meaningfully with others and build engaged communities.
DREAMERS AND SCHEMERS. Gripping political history of Australia by Frank Bongiorno. Hard to put down.
DID I EVER TELL YOU? Sam Neill’s story of his eminent career in films and his battle with cancer.
Enjoy Christmas and 2024.
May HOPE, LOVE and GENEROSITY reign supreme in your life.
We were able this year to celebrate 90 years of superb service to our nation by the ROYAL FLYING DOCTOR SERVICE solely because of the vision, commitment and determination of its magnificent pioneer, JOHN FLYNN, whom we know fondly as FLYNN OF THE INLAND.
I spent many delightful hours writing his life story and I strongly recommend you enjoy the same experience as you read it over your Christmas/New Year holiday.
Go to my website to place your order for a signed copy that I will get to you before Christmas (or as a gift that I send direct to a friend of yours for whom you give me the postal details).
It will cost you only 35 dollars, including postage.
While at my website, you will have the opportunity to expand your holiday reading pleasure by buying my other 3 good reads.
CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN (history of my era)
A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET (happy final curtain call of life)
DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS (story of the creation of Australia)
I look forward to doing business with you.
Everald
PS. In the photo below you will see that my book is resting on another one written by my valued friend GRANTLEE KIEZA. Its about the Woman on the Twenty Dollar Notes, MARY REIBEY. A wonderful read.
On the right hand side, you will see a great book about ENID LYONS, wife of Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, who won a seat in Parliament in her own right after he died and became the first woman to serve in a Federal Cabinet. She was a good friend of mine.
Look a little further to the right and you will see WINDSORS WAY, the story of another good friend, Tony Windsor, the finest independent ever to serve in the Australian Parliament. I wrote the forward to his very readable book.
Discover why there were no FOUNDING MOTHERS, why ABORIGINES were ignored and why NEW ZEALAND walked out of FEDERATION negotiations.
Enjoy my depiction of the main characters, Henry Parkes, Edmund Barton, Alfred Deakin, Samuel Griffith, George Reid, John Forrest, Charles Kingston and others.
Then decide whether or not Australia needs a new Constitution 122 years later.
While you are in buying mode, feel free to also buy any or all of my other 3 books,
THE MAN ON THE TWENTY DOLLAR NOTES – Flynn of the Inland.
CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN – history of my era.
A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET – inspirational life of man with terminal illness.
If you buy all 4, you pay only 100 dollars, including postage.
Let me know if you would like to buy them for a friend.
I will post them direct at no extra charge.
Cheers,
Everald
PS. In the photo below you will see also a great book on the life of the greatest of the Founding Fathers, Alfred Deakin. Written by a great historian Judith Brett, it is a wonderful read.
