author - "Derek Haines"
A one year journey from crisis to calm documented in verse. An emotional roller coaster encompassing the feelings and emotions confronted in a time of turmoil and confusion and the necessity to make difficult decisions under stress. There is no happily ever after, but there is a return to something like normality.
No one wants to be a spy. Circumstances create spies. For a young innocent boy, there was no choice. He was born to be a spy. This is the story of Teremum who begins life in Cairo and becomes my friend Louis in a small country town in Australia sixty years later. It is a story I have been wanting to tell for more than forty years. A story of a man who lived, and then disappeared from all memory. I felt this was unworthy of a man who had sacrificed his life for what he believed to be right. Not that he always was, but in his heart he lived a life true to his morals and an understanding of a side of life we will never know. Two world wars shaped his life as they did for many others. However Louis moved through them, between them and after them as a chameleon. Ever changing and ever re-inventing himself. He was a man of secrets. Both in his work and in his life. He was a man who had few friends, but a plethora of faceless enemies. Above all he was a human who lived an extraordinary life. A life that should not be forgotten.
What Is This Book About? Great question. The answer is so splendidly simple. This book is about anything, everything and nothing. It is an ideal companion on a bus or train where regular interruptions are guaranteed as every part of this book is very, very short. Ideal also for parents of young children who get interrupted a lot by screaming, crying and toilet training. Great too for those with a limited attention span. If you have already scanned the table of contents you will have noticed that there is certainly no rhyme, logic or theme in this book. The reason for this is that each short utterance captures my thoughts on a singular day during the last twelve months. So get ready for a wild ride, or, ask for a refund now and read no further.
Three men, David, Tony and Steve come from three different, but very average Australian upbringings. Each with a different set of values and morals learned from their childhood and teenage years. Each could be described as typical or average. The story of these three men revolves around a period of one year when their attitudes and reactions to life are tested by pain, upheaval and dislocation. When these men are stripped of their family, home, love and security, the essence of each man is uncovered.
It all ended after World War Two. Or so it was thought. While medical and physiological experimentation on humans was repugnant and against all sensibilities, it remained valuable and above all highly profitable. Just simply believing something had gone away was good enough for most. Not for Milo Moon and Mary Seaton, who became proof of an international conspiracy to hide the truth. Simple and childish they may have been, but they held a history in their beings that was a threat to international political stability. For the Swiss government faced with such a discovery on their soil, the art of politics necessitated compromise and calculation to find a solution. A viable outcome that gained maximum political benefit of course; which is the habit of seasoned politicians. However, above all this had to remain a secret and be buried again behind the walls of political cloak and dagger, secret services and a need to protect the sensitivities that we call modern history. Therefore, it never happened.
A very strange collection of thoughts and memories by a middle aged Australian man looking for the meaning of life. And not finding it. It asks a few questions, but provides no answers. It s a wistful collection of words placed in a clever order so as to confuse the reader. It also wanders the topics of sex, politics, food and recipes! It was written in 1998 during a period of relative crisis. (So what changes!) Resurrected in 2009 by an accident of being able to open such an old Word file. The rest is up to you.
A one year journey from crisis to calm documented in verse. An emotional roller coaster encompassing the feelings and emotions confronted in a time of turmoil and confusion and the necessity to make difficult decisions under stress. There is no happily ever after, but there is a return to something like normality.
No one wants to be a spy. Circumstances create spies. For a young innocent boy, there was no choice. He was born to be a spy. This is the story of Teremum who begins life in Cairo and becomes my friend Louis in a small country town in Australia sixty years later. It is a story I have been wanting to tell for more than forty years. A story of a man who lived, and then disappeared from all memory. I felt this was unworthy of a man who had sacrificed his life for what he believed to be right. Not that he always was, but in his heart he lived a life true to his morals and an understanding of a side of life we will never know. Two world wars shaped his life as they did for many others. However Louis moved through them, between them and after them as a chameleon. Ever changing and ever re-inventing himself. He was a man of secrets. Both in his work and in his life. He was a man who had few friends, but a plethora of faceless enemies. Above all he was a human who lived an extraordinary life. A life that should not be forgotten.
What Is This Book About? Great question. The answer is so splendidly simple. This book is about anything, everything and nothing. It is an ideal companion on a bus or train where regular interruptions are guaranteed as every part of this book is very, very short. Ideal also for parents of young children who get interrupted a lot by screaming, crying and toilet training. Great too for those with a limited attention span. If you have already scanned the table of contents you will have noticed that there is certainly no rhyme, logic or theme in this book. The reason for this is that each short utterance captures my thoughts on a singular day during the last twelve months. So get ready for a wild ride, or, ask for a refund now and read no further.
Three men, David, Tony and Steve come from three different, but very average Australian upbringings. Each with a different set of values and morals learned from their childhood and teenage years. Each could be described as typical or average. The story of these three men revolves around a period of one year when their attitudes and reactions to life are tested by pain, upheaval and dislocation. When these men are stripped of their family, home, love and security, the essence of each man is uncovered.
It all ended after World War Two. Or so it was thought. While medical and physiological experimentation on humans was repugnant and against all sensibilities, it remained valuable and above all highly profitable. Just simply believing something had gone away was good enough for most. Not for Milo Moon and Mary Seaton, who became proof of an international conspiracy to hide the truth. Simple and childish they may have been, but they held a history in their beings that was a threat to international political stability. For the Swiss government faced with such a discovery on their soil, the art of politics necessitated compromise and calculation to find a solution. A viable outcome that gained maximum political benefit of course; which is the habit of seasoned politicians. However, above all this had to remain a secret and be buried again behind the walls of political cloak and dagger, secret services and a need to protect the sensitivities that we call modern history. Therefore, it never happened.
A very strange collection of thoughts and memories by a middle aged Australian man looking for the meaning of life. And not finding it. It asks a few questions, but provides no answers. It s a wistful collection of words placed in a clever order so as to confuse the reader. It also wanders the topics of sex, politics, food and recipes! It was written in 1998 during a period of relative crisis. (So what changes!) Resurrected in 2009 by an accident of being able to open such an old Word file. The rest is up to you.