VISIONS of a slow boat to (or in this case from) China have come to mind as Port Macquarie author Laurie Barber waits for copies of his latest book to arrive.
The Melbourne publisher has sent the manuscript to a Shanghai printer. The author expects the books soon, although he is unable to define “soon”. Copies should have arrived last week or the week before.
The Massacre at Myall Creek occurred late in the afternoon of Sunday 10 June 10 1838, near what is now the road between Bingara and Inverell in northern NSW.
The Chief Justice of NSW Sir James Dowling described the subsequent court action as “one of the most important cases that has ever come under our notice since there has been a Supreme Court in New South Wales”.
When Laurie Barber began work as a journalist at The Inverell Times in 1958 he began putting the story together.
When he came to Port Macquarie he used his longhand information to gain practice with computers and had nine copies made. These went to various universities. He then discovered his work had been referred to in the Oxford Companion to Australian History and university students started asking for copies, leading to his decision to have a “proper book” made.
Mr Barber believes Massacre at Myall Creek will sell well.
“This is a story that had to be told,” he said.
The author has written three other books, Please Print for Country Press Australia and My Word and Ringo, based on the weekly newspaper columns that appear in the Independent and other newspapers around Australia.
Copies will be available for $20 at the Independent newspaper’s office at the intersection of Gordon and Gore streets in Port Macquarie – when they arrive.
