This is a big shout out for local author, Joy Seevers as well as a local icon, the Gippsland Lakes.
'Where Pelicans Are' is the true story of the disappearance of young, professional fisherman, Steven Grassby, who vanished while fishing with his father in Tambo Bay in 1998. In recounting the story of the long search for Steven, Joy tells the stories of Gippslands' lakes and ocean fishermen through the ages, weaving past and present together in dramatic fashion as the search unfolds.
Joy Seevers is Steven's aunt, and a member of the Mitchelson family of Lakes Entrance, who have fished the Gippsland Lakes and Bass Strait for five generations. While her grief is palpable, so is her love for the seafaring livelihood that 'oscillates between tranquility and tragedy'.
If you love the Lakes and want to understand more about their past - ecologically, historically and socially - then this book is a great read. A journo friend of mind described the writing as 'unpolished', but in my mind, that's the beauty of it. The writing is raw and real, like the industry it describes and the lives it honours.
Published by Black Fin books. If you have trouble finding a copy, let me know.
