Pilbara childhood remembered

Perth publicist Leith Finny has brought to life the memoirs of the late Bill Quinn, in a book which provides a fascinating insight into life growing up on an outback sheep station in the Pilbara, 60km from Marble Bar.

Child of the Pilbara is a collection stories written by Quinn about his childhood days on Bamboo Springs, from birth to aged 9 when he was sent to boarding school in Perth.

Quinn never lost his passion for rural life, becoming a well-respected agricultural editor for the West Australian Newspaper before leaving his journalism career to start a PR consultancy firm.

He went onto lead the State Government inquiry into the racing industry, as well as being appointed to review the Kimberley cattle industry, Pilbara infrastructure and a five year state tourism plan.

Quinn’s posthumously published stories provide a fascinating insight into Pilbara life and his lively anecdotes reflect his passion for the racing industry and his affinity with the Aboriginal people he grew up with on the station.

Ms Finny, Quinn’s friend of more than 20 years, said sadly he died suddenly from a brain tumour before he was able to fulfil his dream collating all his anecdotes into a book for his children.

“I was asked by his widow Kate to collate all of his hand written stories into this anthology,” she said.

“We developed a great friendship over the last twenty years and worked closely on a lot of his projects…he did a lot of work in particular to better the lives of Aboriginal people.

“He was a quiet man but in a recognition of how respected he was, more than 500 people turnout out at his funeral from all walks of his life.”

Ms Finny said it was an 18-month “labour of love” to put together the 208 pages of stories in theChild of the Pilbara.

“He had beautifully handwritten so many stories, many of them written several times over my company Par Excellence have done all the collation, typesetting, editing, and printing,” she said.

“His stories will be very relatable to people living in the Pilbara- he talks about everything from the history of the region…to the adventures of his childhood and entering his first horse in the Melbourne Cup.

“It was initially written for his family but since printing we have had other people start to contact us who used to live and work with him, who have said reading his memoirs is like listening to him talk right to them.

“He was a special man and very well respected, there really should be more people like him.”

Child of the Pilbara can be purchased from Par Excellence, Victoria Park for $45 or ordered via email at leith@parexcellence.com.au .