Living Legends: True Tales of Extraordinary Old-Timers

An entertaining collection
of yarns about thirteen larger-than-life Aussie characters, full of bush
wisdom and wit.

Meet fourteen remarkable Australian (and one Kiwi!) jacks and jills of all trades with a wealth of experiences from the good old days to modern times. Hailing from all walks of life, they share their memories with renowned yarn spinner Sandy Thorne in a collection of stories full of wisdom and wit.

There’s Danny, the champion jockey who refuses to ever truly hang up the saddle; ‘Dusty’, the WW II rear gunner who survived thirty raids over Germany; and Dot, the seemingly dainty 97-year-old who was once a bullocky’s offsider. Then there’s Bob, who’s been a truckie, fighter, croc-wrestler and lotto winner; Doris, the once hard-toiling dairy farmer who’s as chirpy as a willy-wagtail; and Roy, the Vietnam vet turned world-class waterskier. Between them, the characters in this book have survived the Depression, seen world wars come and go and witnessed monumental changes in everyday life. There’s comedy and courage in their adventures, as well as tales of triumph over adversity.

Through their stories, Sandy finds the elements that make up the classic Australian character- a no-nonsense, never-give-up approach that means these people are still firing on all cylinders in their eighties and nineties, and truly embody what it means to be a living legend.