Mr Frank Lacy - Kimberley pioneer

I’m not a book worm so can’t comment how well this book has been written so my comments are about its content.

I just finished reading the “River of Home” by Marion Nixon. The book recalls particular events and periods in the life of Frank Lacy, a Kimberley pioneer and adventurer. Several aspects of Mr Lacy’s life stood out for me and the most notable was that he seemed a man of optimism.Kimberley life between the early twenties and WW2 could hardly be described as easy yet Mr Lacy never seemed controlled by those difficulties. He talked about opportunities and challenges when today others might consider them impossible. His story, like so many about our early explorers, is inspirational but is at a time when one might think that there would be nothing left to explore and conquer. I was most pleased that his story was written as so much gets lost in history and time, it made me appreciate that this country is still so young and it has been built by people that were not afraid to take a chance.

I find that I would like answers about things that just don’t seem to make any difference and I put that down to human nature or that I must be getting old. There is that urge to find out how or why. The other part is that it is just so hard to get first hand answers to those questions so it was refreshing to read this book and appreciate how tough life was in the Kimberley by someone who was there.

It will be difficult to travel the Kimberley and not think of Mr Lacy and I regret not reading the book earlier. Our Kimberley trip in 2005 skipped a visit to Walcott Inlet and the opportunity to see Mt Elizabeth station. I will not make that mistake next time.

Mr Lacy was a pioneer that seemed not to dwell on the negatives in life and made difficult experiences sound like an adventure. What a great outlook and sometimes I wonder if this passion for adventure has also slipped into history – I know this doesn’t apply to EO members just those others that think all adventures are an unacceptable risk and the perpetrators should be controlled with copious amount of legislation and rules.

Kind regards