Can You Judge Wayback by its Cover?

Did you design the Wayback cover yourself?

Yes, I did the design and layout myself on Adobe Photoshop. The reason is that I didn't want an artistic style cover because that is not the Wimmera!

What are the photos on the cover, and why did you decide to use these pictures?

The kangaroo emblem is quintessentially Australian - it has adorned the sides of thousands of roads for decades as a warning to drivers to watch out for a roo at night. Mostly the kangaroo comes off second best, but not always, hence the fitting of 'Roo Bars' to many vehicles in the bush. The emblem was used by Winfield cigarettes for a time, but the picture is very firmly owned by Australians.

The landscape photo captures my Wimmera. I did Google Wimmera for pictures; however, a very wise woman, who just happens to be my editor, insisted that every photo in the book had to be attributed, licensed or in the public domain. This prompted a drive in the big W1 Holden back to the Wimmera, where I photographed my old school in Dimboola and home in Murra Warra.

As for the cover photo - it is facing due north along Feerys Road. On the horizon, there are trees which surround two houses. Our home was on the right and was originally built by the Feery family. On the left is the big Feery home of Reg and Nita, which I recently visited, meeting Liz and Angela. Their younger sister Rosanne would often walk across the paddock to play with our little sister Rosanne. I walked across the paddock to work with her father, Reg Feery.

So, the cover photo captures a lot. First, it shows the real Wimmera - dead flat to the horizon. Feerys Road is a dirt road that is 3 chains wide or 66 feet, or about 20 metres, flanked by fences topped with Cyclone barbed wire. I dug dozens of post holes when I was a kid. That is the road that I drove our old cars and trucks, and the paddocks that Mr Feery taught me to drive his V8 car.

The font is Times New Roman -- boring but ya gotta dip your lid to the Romans occasionally. The front cover blurb originally said An Australian farm boy but I changed it to A Wimmera farm boy cos I figured that the kangaroo sign would make it obviously Australian = I figured even a Yank could work it out.

How long did it take you to design the cover?

The basic layout was only a few hours, then it was tweaked, I guess. The back cover layout was designed to hint at a journey from childhood through to working in the outback.

As they say in the classics, you can judge this book by its cover!!