Showing results by publisher "Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd" in Sports & Outdoors

The Sydney to Hobart yacht race is one of the world's major sporting events. In 1998, it became one of the world's major sporting disasters. Six sailors tragically perished, and numerous yachts sank or were badly damaged. The subsequent search and rescue operation was one of the most phenomenally accomplished peacetime efforts the world has ever seen. In this fully updated edition to mark the 10th anniversary of the tumultuous race, Rob Mundle, one of Australia's leading journalists and yachtsmen, tells this story of challenge and survival with compassion, vigour and understanding. 

Former professional sportsman Joe Williams shares his struggles with mental illness and reveals what has helped him survive and thrive. Former NRL player, world boxing title holder and proud Wiradjuri First Nations man Joe Williams was always plagued by negative dialogue in his head, and the pressures of elite sport took their toll. Joe eventually turned to drugs and alcohol to silence the dialogue before attempting to take his own life in 2012. In the aftermath, determined to rebuild, Joe took up professional boxing and got clean. Defying the Enemy Within is both Joe's story and the steps he took to get well.

In 1996, when Akuch Kuol Anyieth is five, her mother flees to Kakuma with her children, intent on finding safety and freedom for her family, while her husband stays behind in South Sudan to fight in the civil war. The family spends nine years in the camp, eking out an existence amidst famine, disease, unbearable heat and chronic violence. Despite their suffering, Akuch never loses hope or her sense of humour. She’s a bright student who loves learning and does well at the local school.

On his long path to success—from aspiring professional footballer to actor, director and producer—for every opportunity Aaron Fa’Aoso had, there were setbacks and heartache. He was six when his father and grandfather both died. His fiercely proud mother and even fiercer grandmother dug deep to raise Aaron and his brothers. Belief in himself as a warrior—literally and metaphorically—made him into a fighter, for better and for worse. A month into Aaron’s second marriage, and just as his acting career was flourishing, his new wife took her own life.

An Afghan refugee’s extraordinary journey - from his early life as a shepherd boy in the mountains of Northern Afghanistan, to his forced exile after being captured and tortured by the Taliban, to incarceration in an Australian detention centre...and finally, to freedom. This moving and poignant work gives the listener a rare insight into the contented ‘milk and honey’ life of a simple Afghan family before the civil war ripped their country apart. The lives and centuries-old livelihood of farmers, craftsmen and small business owners were destroyed in just weeks and months. 

In 1995, journalist and author Roland Perry wrote to Sir Donald Bradman requesting an interview for a biography he was planning of the great cricketer. Surprisingly, the Don agreed. It was the start of a conversation that continued for years, during which the real Bradman shone, not only as a great sportsman but as a musician, brilliant thinker and humorist with a fondness for tea and a Scotch or two.

In 2012, combat engineer Curtis McGrath was serving in the Australian army in Afghanistan when, in the line of duty, he stepped on a mine. Seriously injured but still conscious and aware he'd bleed out and die within minutes, McGrath, as the unit's chief first-aid officer, directed his comrades to apply tourniquets and administer an IV and morphine. Then, as he was stretchered to a helicopter, fearing he would never see his family again, he joked that he planned to become a Paralympian.

In July 2009 Jim Stynes, the acclaimed professional Australian-rules football player and administrator, was diagnosed with cancer and given less than a year to live. The diagnosis caught him by surprise. He was 42, healthy, and didn't have time for illness; he was director of the Reach Foundation, president of Melbourne Football Club, father of two primary school-aged kids, and the husband of Sam. Jim's ability to use mind over matter and never give in gave him two extra years on the prognosis. This book is Jim's legacy.

Heard of the two dimwits who try to blow up a bothersome croc but only succeed in destroying their 4WD? Or the drunken fishermen who fell off his boat and three hours later knocked on the hull of a Russian trawler? Or of marlin with beaks like baseball bats and eyes the size of bread and butter plates? Marvel at fishing cheats who've devised outrageous schemes and ruses to win fishing competitions, and a huge shark that vomited up a human arm.

A vivid, nuanced portrait of an endlessly complicated man from NYT best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert. In this rousing examination of contemporary American male identity, acclaimed author and journalist Elizabeth Gilbert explores the fascinating true story of Eustace Conway. In 1977, at the age of 17, Conway left his family's comfortable suburban home to move to the Appalachian Mountains. For more than two decades he has lived there, making fire with sticks, wearing skins from animals he has trapped, and trying to convince Americans to give up their materialistic lifestyles and return with him to nature.

An intimate account of Alex Honnold's unprecedented, almost unimaginable feat: a 3,000-foot vertical climb up El Capitan in Yosemite, without a rope. One slip, one false move, one missed toehold and you're dead. On June 3rd 2017 veteran adventure journalist and professional climber Mark Synnott was in Yosemite to witness something that only a handful of people knew was about to occur: the most famous climber in the world, Alex Honnold, was going to attempt to summit one of the world's most challenging ascents, a route called Freerider on the notorious rock formation El Capitan. 

The stories and verses in this collection are not just anecdotes, racing history pieces, or rehashed feature articles from sports journalists; first and foremost they are good literature. The common thread running through the wonderful Australian short stories featured in this volume is the real Aussie character and passion for life that racing seems to bring out in our culture. There are tales of childhood dreams, great achievements, victory in adversity and also tales of tragedy and heartbreak. There are stories of crazy schemes and hilarious events that could only happen on an Australian racetrack.

As Moire charts the first harrowing year after Pete’s death - the shock, the loneliness and the difficulties of single parenting two young children - she also experiences glimpses of hope and acceptance as she trains to become a mountain leader. The people she meets through the mountains, as well as the peace and wild beauty of the Mournes, help Moire discover her inner strength and prove she is not alone in her struggles. 

When a team of soccer players from the Wild Boars Academy Football Club - a scrappy club of undocumented migrants and outcasts - became stranded behind rising water in a labyrinthine Thai cave system, they set in train a drama that would captivate the world. Nine days later, still trapped in the dark without food, and with only water leaking through the walls to drink, their survival seemed unlikely. Yet against the odds a team of determined divers traversed floodwaters and narrow cave-ways to locate the boys - alive and hopeful.

As far back as stories go, pioneers have reached for the skies. In the last 200 years, they have mastered the air and made the modern world possible. Reach for the Skies is my look at the history of flight through the stories and people who have inspired me throughout my life. It is a story of pioneers, and of course it includes the world-famous Montgolfiers and the Wright brothers, but I also want to describe some of the lesser-known trailblazers.

Jeff Horn's journey from a bullied schoolboy to world boxing champion - for anyone who has ever felt downhearted or like an outsider. The story of Jeff Horn is like a fairy tale. Written with award-winning author, journalist and boxing aficionado Grantlee Kieza, The Hornet is the tale of a boy who, slapped around by bullies, saw through tears in his eyes a vision of himself as a hero, a champ, someone other people might one day look up to. Horn took up boxing after being tormented as a teenager.

The first full-length biography of George Ingle Finch - maverick Australian mountaineer, scientist, concert pianist and father of actor Peter Finch. George Ingle Finch, mountaineer, soldier, scientist, rebellious spirit, boy from the bush, was in his day one of the most famous men in the world. In 1922 he stood at the highest point on Everest, a feat not bettered for 30 years. He invented the predecessor to the puffer jacket and pioneered the use of oxygen in climbing.

Rex tells the story of a kid who struggled at school, but who found the drive and motivation to carve out a hugely successful career as an Aussie Rules footballer and then as a major media figure. Along the way Rex talks about his years in the police force, his National Service, the ups and downs of his business and professional life, the dramatic legal case against his former manager, his loving family, and, of course, lots and lots of football and fishing.

The powerful and uplifting story of one Ugandan woman who has given hope to hundreds of female victims of war and violence. Alice Achan was just 13 when the Lord's Resistance Army first terrorised her village in Northern Uganda in 1987. She spent five years on the run from the brutal LRA and then cared for her young nieces after their mother died of AIDS, losing them one by one to the disease.

When a career-ending injury saw former Ireland and Millwall striker Richie Sadlier retire from football at age 24, his life spiralled out of control. Without structure or a sense of purpose, fuelled by a dependency on alcohol, he spent years running from the dark memories and feelings that had haunted him since childhood. Until one day he hit rock bottom and decided to confront his demons.