The Castaway

The Castaway

Edition 1 - May 1999

Web Site Update

Yes, it has finally happened! I have finally brought the site up to date. I have updated the graphics, put in a full set of icons for you to click on to jump to the main pages, and all that sort of thing. You will also find some new stories:

TLAs and BFLAs

The Names Fleming - Ian Fleming

4MYEGO

And, as a sneak preview (this one will appear in the next edition of TableAus):

You Might have M@il

These stories continue with the eclectic theme of the others already on the site. I have also updated the feedback on the site received up to last week. Have a look at:

Last year's bottles, lying on the shore

This page now shows messages received this year only; it links back to last year's, which has also been updated. A number of specific messages relating to stories also appear on the individual story pages.

Mr. Norway

In particular, Mr Norway has stirred up a bit of controversy. I have heard from Shirley Norway, Nevil Shute Norway's daughter. It seems that Norway may have exited car racing earlier than I thought he had, but all my records of his events are currently on loan to the Phillip Island museum. I have just been put in touch with the photographer who took the photo that appears there with my story - he may also be able to shed some more light on this. Watch the Web Site for more controversy!

I have also now joined the International Nevil Shute society. See the links and updates at:

Mr. Norway

Ion Idriess

While I have not yet added much info here, I am pleased to have heard from a number of Idriess collectors. I have also found a most amazing bookshop on the net. In some ways, it is more impressive than Amazon.com, particularly if you are looking for second-hand books. It is the Advanced Book Exchange, at:

http://www.abebooks.com/

The impressive part is that when you search for a book here, you are actually searching almost 5,000 book-stores world-wide. When you find the book(s) that you want, after comparing prices, editions, etc., your order goes directly to the shop, and you deal with them. As a result, the Idriess collection has grown dramatically! (Nareen - did you get my last e-mail?)

Big Cat Update

The photo of the panther (or whatever it was) has been shown in the movie Alien Big Cats in Australia last month, complete with credit. More info and links at:

Black Panther Sighting at the Prom.

Gremlins

The Roald Dahl story now has links to it from a large number of sites, including Excite indexes. There is an opinion around that this smacks of conspiracy theory. This is understandable, however the basic facts, from A Man Called Intrepid and a BBC radio interview [Ed: Whoops! It was Australia's ABC, and the interviewer was Terry Lane. See his Message.] with Dahl shortly before his death, both indicate very clearly that he worked for the British Security Coordination organisation. The link between this and the book The Gremlins I have drawn from this. I am open to other interpretations, and would love to hear from anyone with further evidence. A recent TV documentary on Dahl has added to the body of work that seems to ignore that the book The Gremlins ever existed.

By the way, the British model, Sophie Dahl, currently visiting Australia, is Roald's grand-daughter. She still well remembers him telling her stories. See:

The Gremlins.

A recent contact also advises that a new book on "Camp X" is being written - see:

http://webhome.idirect.com/~lhodgson/campx.htm

Travelling?

I am now a local administrator for Gates96. This is an interesting "grass roots" guide to the world, and is maintained by people in each city in the guide. In return, you get to put up a banner for your own Web Site (that's next on my list). There is now also a list of Webcams for each city. Have a look:

http://www.gates96.com/

(Judy - I promised you this URL ages ago!) For a different type of travel guide, have a look at:

http://fordprefect.h2g2.com/

Personal Update

Two of the family have had birthdays in April - Scott is now 20, and Lauren 10. The kids' ages now add up to 42! Renée will be joining me next week playing trumpet in a rehearsal for a 20+ year reunion performance of Adelphos - my old "Jesus rock" band. (Nostalgia Rules!)

Marilyn and I are all booked in for our trip in August (on Frequent Flyer points) to niece Stephanie's wedding in Darwin, followed by a few days on Dunk Island.

(Barry & Marg - I trust you get this. Thanks for your snail-mail newsletter - I see that your e-mail address has changed. You can e-mail back again, now. Maybe see you in August? Martin & family - good to see you today!)

Thanks everyone for your attention - see you next time!

- Keith.

This is the first of an irregular series of newsletters. They will be sent monthly at the most often; probably much less frequently! The contents will be a brief summary of updates to the Island, and any other interesting bits of trivia and ephemera that may be of interest to people that either know me, or visit my Web Site.

Updated: 13 May 2000

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