At a book launch earlier this year, Rod Halsted was presented with the suggestion that his whole life had been leading to the opportunity to write his new book.
He tends to agree.
Together with receiving top marks in English at school, spending a year working at the Border Mail, and his love of a great yarn, Rod gathered such a range of life experience that his memoir, 'Take My Advice, I'm Not Using It!' is clearly the book he was meant to write.
It's described by publisher Allen & Unwin as "a wild ride through addiction, crime and redemption - all wrapped in the irreverent humour of a true Aussie larrikin".
The Albury-based author will be at the Wangaratta Library from 6pm on Thursday, 2 October, in an event presented in collaboration with Booktique, to discuss the journey to its release.
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"People can expect the truth and lots of humour," Rod said.
"I'm bringing along my best mate, Geoff Romero, to interview me, and I'll answer any question anyone asks," Rod said.
'Take My Advice, I'm Not Using It!' charts Rod's life from his childhood in Gunnedah, where he loved going to market with his stock and station agent father, to dealing drugs and doing time, arrest records in four states, and sharing a drink with Bob Hawke.
Rod said he had a sense of adventure and curiosity from a young age, and while he loved the learning aspect of school, he couldn't wait to leave.
As a teenager in the early 1970s, he first went to Western Australia to work for a mining company.
Returning to Albury, he worked at the Border Mail for a year in sub-editing, but "never got to write a word", then worked in a bar before moving back to Sydney, where a mate asked him to run his business while he went to Mexico.
"I asked him what the business was and he said it was selling marijuana; I got entrenched in it, and met some very dangerous people," he said.
"I dealt with them okay, they carried guns but I never carried a weapon, and I lived on my wits.
"I didn't sell powder except for once, and I despise all forms of drugs except pure-grade marijuana.
"Dealing drugs was funny and exciting, but I got caught and paid the price, and I haven't had a drink for 26 years."
Rod started a pressure-washing business in Albury, then sold it and found he had time on his hands to write his book.
"Originally, I thought I'd write it because I wanted my kids to know my life story, but I think it was always my intention to write this story," he said.
Now operating a landscaping business in Albury, Rod said he was enjoying the chance to unveil the story arc of his life.
"It's fun to reach the age of 74 and find something that can be invigorating; I see too many people my age who are just waiting to die," Rod said.
