What People Say About 'The River Runs Free'

I just wanted to say I got your book yesterday, started reading it and ended up reading it compulsively in one go. It’s bloody great. It’s the only Australian book on being a greenie I’ve ever read which is actually readable, personable, gives a real feel of what it’s like to campaign, and isn’t written to vindicate the author’s seminal role in victory. Dr Barry Traill, July 2008


Plus a few weekends ago read The River Runs Free, cover to cover, in one sitting cuddled up next to wood heater on a cold and rather bleak Canberra winter evening. It was a treat and a half. Really really enjoyed it. Clare Henderson, Consensus Productions, July 2008


I've just finished the copy of your book which you gave to the Sydney Campaign Centre and I enjoyed it immensely. A damn fine read (as it were) and beautifully told. Perfect combination of personal story and campaign events. I honestly couldn't put it down and have recommended it far and wide. A superb read although of course tinged with a certain amount of sadness over what's been lost. If it doesn't walk of the book shop shelves there's something wrong with the reading public. Colin Maltman, TWS Sydney, July 2008


Have just read his book on the Franklin River blockade and would ask that you pass on my sincere congratulations for a wonderful, heartfelt read. I was moved to tears towards the end of it......what a victory I remember it well. In particular the chapter on his trek through the Walls of Jerusalem NP resonated...having done that with my partner, although in part in snow, in not quite so arduous conditions! Once again...congratulations, the battles go on. Our fight here in Vic to stop Brumby's folly down on the Bass Coast and the pipeline hopefully will bear some fruit. Daryl Glover, July 2008

Geoff,
Thanks very much for your book. It is inspirational. What a great thing you have written. I finished it this morning before dawn. It was a bit of a decision. There was a half moon and therefore enough light around 5:30 to go for a bit of a stagger around the bush up here at my place. Yet your book was so easy to read, the mixes of campaign and being in the bush, the river and the snow. I decided that I'd forgo the moonlit ramble and jump in the bath with two coffees and keep reading till the end. The sun has now 7:41 just lit up the trees around the house. It starts up on Taytitikitheeker and works its way down the slopes in a matter of seconds. A few clouds are coming from the south east almost, perhaps SSE, and there is outside the house just the sound of shrike-thrushes, and distant creeks. It will be a sunny morning.

Congratulations
Garry Stannus, July 2008

Hey Geoff,

I LOVED your book. I had the flu last week and read your book in 3 sittings. You are an excellent story teller and best of all you didn't paint yourself in a heroic light and were happy to share your own insecurities over what your invovlement was. One of my favourite bits was "I guess they didn't write folk songs about building dams" Leanne Minshull, July 2008

I greatly enjoyed reading the book, and Sandy is looking forward to it. You gave very interesting insights, combined with deft narrative touches and an inspiring epilogue. Stephen Mattingley, July 2008

Hi Geoff,

After reading a review in The Age, I bought a copy of your book, The River Runs Free on Saturday afternoon and have just finished it at 11:40am Sunday morning. WOW!!!

In January1983 my husband and I went to Tasmania for a two-week holiday. We had been very aware of the campaign to stop the damming of the Franklin and joined the Wilderness Society in 1982. As mainlanders we had not been exposed to the negative sentiments toward those who were against the dam and were horrified when we were spat on in Strahan and refused service in several business establishments. On returning from holidays we convinced family members to begin a letter writing campaign condemning the damming of the Franklin - arguing although they may never see the Franklin one day our children might want to; once convinced they became very committed.

We have always been enjoyed camping and have spent many hours under canvas. Our children joke frequently about their cheap holidays, but even now as adults the girls still find some time to join us briefly in the bush. Over the years our commitment to the environment has continued to grow as we realise the importance of wild places to our sense of well being.

In 1994 we returned to Tasmania with our children. We showed them places of incredible beauty and magnificence. We encountered animals so unafraid of humans they were almost tame. We watched enviously as bizarrely clothed people wondered off into the distance behind Cradle Mountain and emerged from the undergrowth around the edges of Lake St Clair. My third trip was very brief, accompanying an America student teacher to Hobart for a long weekend. We did manage a road trip to Cockle Creek, stopping at Dover for dinner. Even in that short amount of time she was able to appreciate Tasmania’s specialness. It wasn’t until 2002 I became initiated into the wilds of Tasmania and walked the Overland Track with my husband and our 17 year old daughter. It was quite bizarre to find a NO DAM triangle on a large tree at Frog Flats and to think it may have been there for 20 years. The triangle has since been removed. This is a link to “Our Hiking Blog” where she catches up with the tree again. http://frankinoz.blogspot.com/2007/07/day-6-pelion-hut-to-windemere-hut.html

I/we have returned to Tassie many, many times since, to go walking in wild places and will continue to do so. Both of us chose to celebrate our 50^th birthdays in Tasmania - my husband with a small group, walking the Overland. While I invited a group to walk the circuit around Cradle Mountain via Scott-Kilvert Hut. My brother-in-law at 52 had never seen snow until then. In December, we are planning to do the walk you describe in chapter 25 with our 17 yo son (having done it in June 2007 with our eldest daughter).

In November our eldest daughter will complete her studies in Outdoor Education and her final “trip” will be to raft down the Franklin. It is amazing to think without the dedication and hard work of so many, this wouldn’t be possible. How prophetic was the statement I made to my parents and siblings in 1983. We take pride, that we in some very small way helped to make this possible and we would like to express our admiration and to say thank you to all who work so tirelessly to keep wild places wild.

Sue Wall (and Frank), July 2008