Скачать или смотреть Stephen Whiteside: Snow, Fire and Gold - Bill Spargo & Evelyn Piper’s life in the Mountains (2025)

The book was inspired by a visit to a remote hut in the mountains near Mt Hotham in 1982. Although it had been abandoned for many years, it remained full with all the items necessary for everyday living. I resolved to find out who had lived in this hut, and why.

In 1987 and 1988 I spent many hours travelling through country Victoria, interviewing and recording people who had known the occupants of the hut, Bill Spargo and Evelyn Piper. I spoke to skiing pioneers, former Hotham Chalet managers, prospectors and miners, road makers, cattlemen and many others. I interviewed Bill’s descendants and tracked down Evelyn’s descendants in England. I was given photographs, personal letters, and other relevant documents. The arrival of Trove also gave me access to early newspaper articles containing information about Bill and/or Evelyn.

I have been writing all my life - mostly rhyming verse (for adults and children) and short articles. Many of my poems have been published in magazines or anthologies (both in Australia and overseas) or won awards. In 2014, Walker Books published a collection of my verse for children, The Billy That Died with Its Boots On and Other Australian Verse. In 2015, the book won a Golden Gumleaf for Book of the Year at the Australian Bush Laureate Awards. ’Snow, Fire and Gold’, self-published this year, is my first novella.