Entertainment
14 June, 2023
Author unearths stories of Einasleigh
Local author and lover of preserving history Colleen Taylor will be releasing her latest book next month, telling the stories of over 50 elderly people in the Ethridge Shire.
Local author and lover of preserving history Colleen Taylor will be releasing her latest book next month, telling the stories of over 50 elderly people in the Ethridge Shire.
Coming from a strong line of cattle farmers in the Mareeba, Ethridge and Hinchinbrook regions, Colleen’s love from history has been with her since she was a young girl.
After hearing the stories of many older people, she was shocked to learn barely any of them had recorded their trail blazing stories and began writing “Unearthing Einasleigh and District’s Bygone Days”.
“I was just talking to all these oldies, and no one had recorded all their history,” she said.
“I approached the Ethridge Shire Council and was lucky enough to get a community grant and that helped me with a few things when putting together the book.”
Interviewing several members of the community, Colleen was able to get an in depth perspective of what life was like in the Etheridge shire and put it into words.
Although this isn’t her first rodeo when it comes to writing books, she found this time to be different from the last.
“This was completely different (from previous release “Cooee Cooee”) as it was difficult to speak with these 90 year olds who don’t have email addresses or any social media, so I had to type their questionnaires out on paper and mail it them off to all these stations.
“They would then send it all back and I would type it up with my own stories in between theirs.”
With the questionnaires, many sent precious photos and artefacts with them, intrusting Colleen with their pieces of history to share.
Honoured to be trusted with such treasures, Colleen was quick the send them back after scanning and adding them to her book. Her editor Crystal Leonardi said she was impressed by the number of different visuals and sources used within her book.
“What is really unique about Colleen’s book is there’s actual letters from people and poetry, quotes and portions of text that come straight out of the horse’s mouth,” she said.
“So, you are getting real and genuine recounts of what was happening during these times and it is not long and drawn out and boring.”
“Unearthing Einasleigh and District’s Bygone Days” is available to pre order from Colleen directly by calling 0474 035 111 or emailing elanglade117@gmail.com
The book will also be officially launched in Georgetown under the “history tree” by Mayor Barry Hughes on 27 July
