Our S(h)ipping Reporter , the only one north of Dunedin , has the annoying habit of regularly stating he is a Lucky Ducky , which makes him sound like a childish twit . He does, however, seem to have the luck of the Irish when it comes to picking up endless offbeat stories , interesting books and ephemera , odd items and plain junk .
Apart from prowling about the Townsville waterfront, he often sets sail for the Special Collections section at the James Cook University library where the building has a nautical design with portholes and a large model of Captain Cook's Endeavour.
On a recent visit to the university he discovered students holding a regular book swap session . As he had two books in his kitbag , bought at an op shop , one about the Loch Ard shipping disaster , he swapped the other for the biography of Pioneer Players, The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson , by Peter Fitzpatrick . The Essons were closely involved with Australian theatre and literature ; in the case of Louis, he was called the father of Australian drama ; a doctor, Hilda was also involved in public health .
A quick thumb through the book revealed Hilda Esson had given medical advice to Communist author , New Zealander Jean Devanny , who holidayed on Magnetic Island and died in Townsville , her personal papers in Special Collections .The Essons also had dealings with author Xavier Herbert who wrote the 1938 sesquicentenary award winning novel about the Northern Territory , Capricornia, and Poor Fellow My Country . A ceramic tribute to Xavier , below, is located near the book return slot at the Cairns Council Library .
Feeling lucky , the S(h)ipping Reporter went to the next book swap at the university, but arrived late to see all the volumes being wheeled away in a large bin . He was kindly allowed to rummage through the pile and plucked out two : Home Before Dark , by Ruth Park ( another Kiwi ) and Tasmanian Rafe Champion , about the champion Australian boxer Les Darcy , who died in America in 1917 under tragic circumstances ; From a Chair in the Sun The Life of Ethel Turner , who penned the classic Seven Little Australians .
He handed over four of his own dusty books , which included The Russian Mind, a collection of early science fiction and a l970s guide to London antique markets , for the students to fight over .
Then , with the two swapped books in his kitbag, the drifting sea salt , delighted with his acquisitions, made his way to the waterfront and came across a story in the nightclub precinct , not yet picked up by the local media : the median strip now sports Xanthorrhoea , distinctive Australian plants,also known as Balga Grass , Balga being Aboriginal for "Black Boy." In the past, the city council erected controversial metal Transformer-like structures in the strip , which were eventually removed .
While resting in the ferry terminal , our reporter opened the Les Darcy book and soon knew he had struck it lucky when early in the introduction he read that Chinese boxer Rud Kee , mentioned previously in this blog in connection with the Queensland goldmining town of Ravenswood , had once boxed with Les Darcy , the boxing gloves he wore on that occasion kept by boxing troupe owner Jimmy Sharman and never used again .
Kee and Sharman had given author D'Arcy Niland (named after Darcy ) a list of people to contact when he began researching the life of Les Darcy, but he died before the biography could be written. Award winning author Ruth Park , who married Niland , took part in the research and carried on the project with Rafe Champion , interested in sport, the arts and biological sciences .
Kee and Sharman had given author D'Arcy Niland (named after Darcy ) a list of people to contact when he began researching the life of Les Darcy, but he died before the biography could be written. Award winning author Ruth Park , who married Niland , took part in the research and carried on the project with Rafe Champion , interested in sport, the arts and biological sciences .
If ever the S(h)ipping Reporter needed further proof that he is indeed a strange Lucky Ducky , born under a lucky star , wandering at large on another lucky day , he had received a lousy $15 from a $30million lottery draw ; there was a ship in port on which LUCKY appeared , mockingly , in large letters.
