Susanna Freymark
Don Sams sat outside the shop on the corner of Stratheden Street and Summerland Way. He had a foldaway table with three copies of his book That’s What I Say for sale.
The former school principal has self published the book based on tapes his father Eric Sams made.
”We told my father to put his stories on tape,” Don said.
”It’s his story, his voice.”
Don’s father’s story is an interesting one. Eric lived in a bag house – the bags were filled with wheat and starch.
There were eight children in Eric’s coal-mining family at Ceessnock.
”The story is a social history of the 20th Century,” Don said.
”He talks about the rules of marbles.”
Eric was a teenager during the Great Depression.
”There was no work, he did what he could, working in road gangs. He got paid in food rations for tea and flour,” Don said.
There’s a lot to tell about Eric Sams and the book That’s What I Say is for sale for $25 at Clay Corner, Kyogle.
Don, who lives at Geneva, is working on a collection of short stories for his next book.
As Literary Allsorts comes to an end, it has been a weekend of inspiration and much to think about from visiting writers and poets. Below are photos from May 15–16.
Photos: Susanna Freymark