You will enjoy this powerful and inspirational page turning novel about the lives of six very different people.
Its fascinating pages will reveal to you that they are Muslim, Jew, Christian, Indigenous, Confucian, LGBTI.
In varying ways and at different times they choose to adopt Jesus the Man as their role model and try to walk with him, each in their own personal way, to help create a better world. You will be inspired and entertained by the way they meet many challenges and obstacles along the way, especially from fundamentalists with closed minds.
I have written WALK IN THE SPIRIT in partnership with a fellow author of good books, Neill Florence, who, like me, is 94 years of age. Our book seeks to enhance the spirituality of people who don’t go to Church or attend any other religious place. It is a sequel to my book ‘Walking with the Man’ except that it is a novel about real people.
For Neill and I, this fascinating journey leads you and us to Uluru as the spiritual heart of Australia on my 95th birthday, an experience that we can enjoy together.
So, may we personally invite you to join us at two inspirational events.
*The launch of ‘Walk in the Spirit’ in Brisbane on Friday, 27 March at Noon at Royal on the Park in Alice Street.
Cost includes a drink, Uluru beef burger, signed book and gift to Dorcas.
Speakers include Paul de Jersey, Rebecca Levingston, David Muir, Neill, and me.
*A very real ‘Walk in the Spirit’ experience of eleven kilometres around Uluru on my 95th birthday on 5 October this year.
It is planned to raise 100,000 dollars for Dorcas ACTS, a Uniting Church charity I founded 15 years ago that gives cash grants directly to people in crisis situations.
Sign up by typing ‘Everald Walk’ into Google. It also provides a link to accommodation etc.
Neill and I, as the only two 94 years old guys who have ever formed a team to write a book together, hope you will join us for one or both events, hopefully both. At both, all of the royalties from book sales are donated to Dorcas.
Above all, we will be delighted to welcome you personally, have a chat, and join together to use our spiritual strength to achieve great things for Australia.
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.
I have tried and failed to have the huge potential of unused productivity of Senior Australians on to the agenda of the Productivity Roundtable that takes place in Canberra next week.
While I have been treated with courtesy and respect, my comments have fallen on deaf ears as the agenda of the Roundtable focusses solely on the big end of town, most of whom are there to seek greater profits for their own empires.
If I was at the Summit, I would state concisely these undeniable truths.
*There are 6 million older Australians many of whom are bored by retirement. Together, they have massive life and work experience, but are discouraged from contributing to the prosperity of the nation.
*Indeed, they are hit with financial penalties when they try to return to the workforce.
*There is huge economic potential in fostering Intergenerational Partnerships in which the experience of oldies is linked with the modern technology embraced by youth to form small start up businesses throughout the nation. I have been advocating this for 25 years but no government has been willing to pioneer it.
*Many retirees want to start a second life when they reach retirement age by training for a new occupation. They can begin this with the enthusiasm of youth and work with enthusiasm at for at least 25 years, but governments won’t create skills training programs to encourage them to do this. (and they will live 5 years longer than those who stop work to enjoy a life of leisure)
*Oldies who want to serve the community as volunteers for not for profit institutions are banned from doing so by ridiculous workplace, health, and safety regulations causing volunteering to die across the nation.
*Because of all of the abovementioned negativity of closed minds in governments, Australia loses billions of dollars in productivity and destroys Medicare by denying Oldies the good health created by activity that also creates new taxable income streams for governments.
ALL OF THIS DUMB LACK OF ENCOURAGEMENT OF OLDER AUSTRALIANS BY GOVERMENTS OF ALL POLITICAL COLOURS WILL BE REFLECTED AT THE PRODUCTIVITY ROUNDTABLE WHICH WILL CONCENTRATE ON EXPANDING THE PROFITS OF THE BIG GUYS, MOST OF WHOM ARE TAX AVOIDERS.
PLEASE EMAIL THIS TO YOUR LOCAL MP AND ASK THEM TO MIGHTILY HARASS THE PRODUCTIVITY ROUNDTABLE.
I recommend you read the book ‘Dreamers and Schemers’ written by Frank Bonjoirno. It is a cracker of a read. It accurately describes the way governments work in Australia.
My hope is that 100 friends will join me at ULURU on a WALK IN THE SPIRIT and each set a goal of funds they will raise personally for Dorcas ACTS.
I hope that another 1000 friends, scattered all over Australia, will do a ‘symbolic’ ULURU WALK IN THE SPIRIT of eleven kilometres in a rural setting somewhere near where they live and invite friends to walk with them, setting a target of funds they will raise for Dorcas ACTS.
I have chosen ULURU as it is in my view the spiritual heart of Australia set in the centre of our continent as the cornerstone of the land on which we live and move and have our being. My hope is that my walk will be a spiritual experience for us all, something similar to the Camino Walk in Spain.
About six weeks from now, DORCAS ACTS will open a special website on which you can sign up to participate and choose the type of accommodation we can reserve for you as well as record your attendance at a DINNER with an Uluru Elder the night before the Walk to learn about the place of ULURU in the Dreamtime, as well as your presence at a BRUNCH at the conclusion of the Walk to share our experiences and hear messages from fellow walkers all over Australia.
For now, just send me a message containing your email address and saying you are interested in taking part. You will then receive an email from Dorcas ACTS when bookings open. You can send the message right now on my website, everaldcompton.com, or by direct message on Twitter or Facebook. If you have my phone number, just send me a text.
I look forward to sharing a special experience with you on 5 OCTOBER 2026 as we WALK IN THE SPIRIT and raise funds for Dorcas ACTS so it can continue, as it has done for 15 years, to send cash grants direct to people in crisis situations.
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.
I applaud Jim Chalmers decision to hold a Productivity Roundtable at Parliament in Canberra in August with the aim of creating a plan to increase the productivity of our nation.
25 of Australia’s top financial and industrial power brokers will meet in the Cabinet Room to express the well known views they have been publicly advocating to the government for a long time. Sadly, very little that is new is likely be added to the findings of the Roundtable.
A few days ago, I was presumptuous enough to apply for a place at the roundtable to present three initiatives that will encourage the nation’s 6 million older citizens to happily add their contribution to the productivity of Australia. Jim Chalmers didn’t reject my self invitation. He is too courteous a bloke to do that. He just told me the truth. They have no spare seats left at the table and many people like me were also trying to get there.
So it is that I will make a written submission to the Roundtable that will advocate three important creators of productivity.
*The removal of all restrictions and penalties that discourage older Australians from re-entering the work force and bringing their wisdom, practical experience and positive work culture with them.
*Positive action by Government to foster Intergenerational Partnerships through which older Australians can partner bright young Aussie visionaries to bring their creative dreams to reality by forming ‘Wise Young’ partnerships that will pioneer thousands of new start up companies that will break new ground via visionary projects.
*Actively encourage retirees to go to TAFE as evening students soon after their 60th birthday to learn new skills that will enable them to start a totally new career when they reach the traditional retirement age of 67, instead of retiring to spend 30 years watching Netflix. They can attempt to achieve the dreams they have thought about creating for decades, but had too many responsibilities that deterred them at the time. .
These three initiatives will hugely add to Australia’s productivity and reduce the nation’s health and ageing bills as activity always wards off illness.
Jim, please personally present these three proposals to the Productivity Roundtable on behalf of all talented oldies whose work culture ensures that they never ever think of taking sickies. It will create a wonderful revolution in our nation’s work ethic.
Cheers for Australia and its productive oldies.
Everald
(Proudly displayed below is the Everald Compton Community Champion Medal which is presented every year by National Seniors Australia. It is an award that began last year and acknowledges the tremendous achievements Senior Aussies constantly make to the nation and encourages all oldies to put their best foot forward for Australia. Please applaud their huge potential)
My morale got a boost this week when my book Walking with the Man got a #1 best seller rating in a section of books on religion at Amazon, including a 5 star rating. It also got a #2 best seller rating in another section just below a Pope Francis book.
The reason is that most buyers are lapsed Christians who gave up going to Church soon after leaving Church Schools as they had ‘a gut full of religion instruction.’ Those who are Catholics say they had learned nothing more at Church than being told to be loyal, go to Mass and Confession, and put their money in the plate. My book opened the door for them to respectfully question everything about doctrines, creeds and how the Church is run. They find it refreshing and encourages them to seek and find Jesus the Man as a human being who is their role model.
I met one reader who is an Indigenous person who had Christianity rammed down his neck at a Church Mission up in the Gulf Country. He quite naturally revolted against European culture blotting out the spirituality of his people that was their strength, inherited from the dreamtime. After reading ‘Walking with the Man’ he embraces the profound belief that Jesus the Man would, like him, love and treasure the land, air, water, flora and fauna. This conviction is quietly and steadily growing in his mind and he intends to do something positive about it.
I could quote the comments of many other readers but one fact dominates my mind.
THE CHURCHES OF AUSTRALIA HAVE ONLY 10% OF PEOPLE AS MEMBERS. THEY HAVE FAILED TO CONVEY TO THE REMAINING 90% THAT JESUS THE MAN IS THE CORNERSTONE OF LIFE.
But he can be the role model of the nation if people choose to follow him without going to Churches in their current form.
Joint the debate and take part in an inspiring reformation by buying a signed copy of ‘Walking with the Man, but not to Church’ on my website
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.
Alfred Deakin was Prime Minister of Australia three times.
He was also a powerful founding father of our nation, having a huge influence in drafting our Constitution.
It is important to note that he made a significant effort to include a Preamble to the Constitution that would set out what it means to be an Australian and what are the basic principles of life that are the fabric of our existence.
He failed to achieve this as he was bitterly opposed by Churches. They claimed to be in charge of the morals of the nation, a task in which they have massively failed.
Now in #Election2025, our leaders only ever talk about #money as they are certain that this is the only value that we place on life, an assumption which may largely be true.
But the blunt truth is Australians live in a massively divided society which seems to have no cornerstone other than #greed on which to base our finest aspirations.
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)
Our world, in which we totally depend on IT for our very existence, feel apart on Friday when a bug in the software of small company caused a seizure in communications across our planet that denied us of essential services.
This ridiculous event compellingly informed us of how helpless we have allowed ourselves to become.
I yearn for the days of my youth when our airline tickets were written out by hand and the pilot of the plane knew how to fly it without any help.
