The story of the book: Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet

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November 2020


This is a moment I have been dreaming of for a long while. It has finally happened,Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet is here.

It's been an anxious few days, obsessively watching the US election and waiting to see the book go up on sales websites, but I can think of something else to fret over.

Back in late 2016, I was an IT consultant. While it was a comfortable job, I was feeling a growing sense of unease about our future. I could continue on a fairly predictable path, it seemed a soulless prospect. 

I didn’t want to be the annoying (deaf) old man in the nursing home telling everyone, “I coulda this, I coulda that.”

Instead, my plan was to be the annoying (deaf) old man boring everyone to death, “I DID this, I DID that.”

More importantly though, I couldn’t sit and watch the unfolding crisis. Shouting at the television might bring some emotional release, but ultimately it achieves nothing. Through it all, I’m painfully aware that I am one insignificant individual, but doing nothing is not an option.

I left my paid job in February 2017 and haven’t had a ‘job’ since.


Over the preceding ten years or so, I’d built a media career alongside my IT work. I did newspaper, radio work, mostly freelance. That’s ‘freelance’ as in usually ‘free’, in my spare time. It was never about the money because it was always (still is) a huge privilege to talk to amazing, talented people. I love hearing and sharing their stories.

And so, the idea of Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet was born. My daughter Katie, herself an accomplished author, said “Write about people”. There are oodles of books about the environment, but very few about the people who make it happen.  

As I say in the book, we don’t have a science problem. We don’t have a technology problem. Our crisis is caused by people. We have a people problem.

The first challenge then, was where to start. I was fortunate early on, to meet Professor Andrew Blakers at a Beyond Zero Emissions event. We did a radio interview, and then he agreed to be in the book. Next, by pure chance, I met Simon Sheikh at a renewable energy showcase day. Simon agreed to an interview, and then to join too.

I went to the c4ce Community Energy Congress in Melbourne. I’m not big – on big events, but this was amazing. I was excited and enthused by people who are optimistic about what is happening with renewable energy. Fossil fuels are looking more ridiculous by the day as they are being mercilessly skewered by cleaner, cheaper technology.

I was amazed and delighted by the response from people I met there. I’d chat to complete strangers who seemed so enthused by the idea of what I was doing. They wanted to read the stories of the wonderful people in this book. It told me I was onto a good idea, I must do whatever it takes to see this project through.

At this point, I had only two stories (Andrew and Simon), no book and no publisher.

At the congress, I signed up for ‘speed dating’, where I met Heather Smith. We immediately had a rapport, which proved crucial. Heather is a Churchill Fellow and later, president of c4ce. 

Heather introduced me to Monica Oliphant, Leonard Cohen and Susan Jeanes, all of whom agreed to let me write their stories. A few months later, I travelled to South Australia, where they were extremely generous with their time. Susan even gave me a room for night at her home, not far from the mouth of the Murray.

Also at the congress, I met the people from the Climate Media Centre who introduced me to Charlie Prell. Charlie and Kris own a sheep farm near Crookwell, a couple of hours from my home in Canberra. We met a couple of times so they could tell me their harrowing story.

Then, through various direct and indirect contacts, I met and interviewed others. Olympia Yarger’s journey is remarkable. I learned how her skill and determination is shaping the future of sustainable agriculture by growing maggots in food waste. 

 

Olympia's flies are actually black soldier flies, not these icky ones.
A little poem from my school days.

I met Inez Harker-Schuch, whose life is full of unexpected turns, from her earliest memories of Cyclone Tracey, international modelling and now, building a computer game where kids learn about climate.

I met Kate Auty, purely by chance at Hepburn Wind event. Kate was then Environment Commissioner in Canberra. Her early years living in the Kimberleys gave her a deep connection to aboriginal Australians. I am grateful for that perspective because they achieved something that seems ever more remote – they learned how to live within the means of the land. They learned that people and the land are intimately connected and, when you destroy one, you destroy the other. We ought to celebrate what they achieved.

I never really followed a plan in writing Fragile Planet, other than knowing I wanted to write stories about the people and the environment. How it would all fit together, I didn’t know until the final chapter – Dr Siwan Lovett. Through her, I met another farmer, Margie Fitzpatrick. 

Coincidentally, I’d lined up an interview on that day with Clive Hamilton, and it became clear that the overarching theme is the question of hope. What does it mean to have ‘hope’? 

Margie Fitzpatrick RHS, an open day at Australind.

Clive’s voice still resonates when he said “I ask myself, how do I talk to my grandchildren about this. I don’t want to talk to them about this.” It’s a crucial question because without hope, we just give up.

 Fascinating but grim reading: Mike Dash, Batavia's Graveyard, Pheonix

I’ve already mentioned Heather Smith, but I should also introduce Madeleine Parker and Dr Rebecca Colvin because  they were invaluable in shaping and fixing up my sometimes rubbish text. More importantly though, they have been always supportive, keeping me motivated.

There’s also a bunch of other people I won’t list, but what it says is that, while my name is on the cover, this project is the product of a many people, not just me. In all, I count nearly two dozen people who gave us their time and energy.

This reveals the second key theme of the book. The lone hero can only achieve <this> much. It's probably safe to say, nobody in history ever really achieved what they did on their own. Take, for example, my personal hero, Charles Darwin. Darwin was constantly in touch with his peers, and the things he learned from them were essential to his momentous insights.

This book would be nothing without the many people who've helped me, and we have no chance of rescuing our future as 'lone heroes'.

Writing biography proved far more difficult than I imagined. We’d record interviews, which I’d then have to trawl and transcribe. It’d take me about three weeks, staring blankly at my computer, trying to figure out how to shape them into a coherent, engaging story. I realised people in interviews don’t describe their life in a sequence that’s easily translated. And people (all of us) don’t even speak in grammatically correct sentences! 

Several weeks later, I’d have a very rough draft, bulging with clunky wording, inconsistencies and goofy grammar. Reading the text later would leave me wondering if a gang of drunken, deranged parrots had been dancing on my keyboard.

Now is a time to rejoice!

The book is out and they voted out that loathsome man in the USA. Americans needed to emphatically reject his anti-science, anti-environment administration, but will it be enough? No, it's just a start, because America has been gravely wounded. Or as a mathematician would say, the change 'necessary but not sufficient'. Biden and Harris have an immense job ahead of them.

We’ve always admired Americans for their amazing, energetic achievements, but now we may be witnessing the terminal convulsions of a once great nation.

In all, 2020 has been a horror year and at times I feel profoundly depressed. Humanity is on a path to oblivion while facts – science and rigorous thinking are all secondary to ideology and emotion. I despair at our inability to do what should be an entirely solvable problem.

But then, I think of the people in Fragile Planet, and I feel a sense of hope. While I honestly don’t know how we’re going to get out of this mess, it’s the inspiration of amazing people that keeps me going.


 

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