Heart-breaking at times, and at others uproariously irreverent, astute, tender, and with an earthy wisdom, this ‘first-timer’ is a gripping book – a love-story that confronts the struggles of living and a death than came too soon.

It opens with a dream-poem:

”I dreamed of him last night, as I do all too seldom.We were – who knows where? I never seem to recognise dream locations.I put my arms around his neck and asked him please not to die before me.There was a moment, then he smiled and made a little gesture that encircled us.He said, ‘Isn’t it good?’ “

As David Stratton writes on the front cover, this memoir of a life together is set ‘against a backdrop of the Australian film industry’ where Chic Stringer was ‘one of the most respected stillsmen of the 1970s and 80s’ (Ian Crawford). It sheds light on the tough world of the entertainment industry and the generosity of true ‘greats’ like Placido Domingo.

Illustrated with Chic Stringer’s own photographs and graphics, and sparkling with bursts of film-script that suddenly transform narrative into drama, it is dedicated to Sydney bereavement counsellor Dianne McKissock who made this return to life possible.

Jocelyn Dunphy-Blomfield is a freelance writer.