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USC graduate writes book about Steve Irwin
University of the Sunshine Coast creative writing graduate Julie Gatehouse has co-authored a book about the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, which will be launched across Australia this week.
Ms Gatehouse, 38, teamed up with one of Steve Irwin’s oldest mates, Tony Frisby, to produce a warm-hearted account of Steve’s life before he was famous.
The book, My Mate Steve Irwin – Life Before the Crocodile Hunter, recounts Tony’s memories of his daring adventures with Steve when they were aged between 15 and 30.
“This is a book about Steve Irwin before he became a celebrity, his mateship with Tony Frisby, and their adventures in the wild, hanging out at the beach and working at the zoo,” Ms Gatehouse said.
“The two of them would go on crazy reptile trips up to the Burdekin, surfing off Fraser Island, and together they started up crocodile shows at Australia Zoo.
“Tony, who is now a parks ranger, was inspired by Steve and his father Bob Irwin’s lifelong dedication to wildlife and conservation.
“This book is for anyone who wants to know what Steve Irwin was like before they saw him on their TV screens. It is very much a ‘boys’ own adventure’.”
Ms Gatehouse, a journalist of 19 years, said the concept for the book emerged after she interviewed Mr Frisby in September 2007 on the first anniversary of Steve’s untimely death.
“Tony said people had urged him over the years to write a book about their friendship and what Steve was really like,” she said. “I was fascinated by their adventures and told Tony I’d always wanted to be an author, and it went from there.”
Ms Gatehouse enrolled in a Creative Writing program at USC in 2008 to fine-tune her novel-writing skills, and found inspiration from the University’s academics, including renowned author Associate Professor Gary Crew.
“I was attracted to the program at USC because of its strong reputation and the fact that it was focused on becoming an author in reality, not just in theory,” she said.
My Mate Steve Irwin has been published by Longueville Books and is available at all leading bookstores and at some department stores.
Ms Gatehouse, Mr Frisby and Bob Irwin – who wrote the foreword for the book – will attend two book launch events on the Sunshine Coast on Saturday 5 December.
They will be at Angus and Robertson bookstores at Sunshine Plaza (from 11am to noon) and at Kawana Shoppingworld (from 1-2pm).
— Terry Walsh