CONTINUING our series on the Coffs Coast seniors who entered the NSW Seniors Stories writing competition and have had their stories chosen for publication, News Of The Area now chats with Graham Doust, writer of ‘Tales of a Cricket Tragic’, Jill Plummer, who penned ‘Age Is Only a Number – Mine Is Unlisted’ and Eric Burrows, the man behind ‘Intrepid Hiker’.

NSW Seniors Card members were invited to contribute 1,000-word short stories to Seniors’ Stories Volume 7, which can be downloaded as a PDF or audiobook from www.seniorscard.nsw.gov.au.

Graham, a former school Principal in Coffs Harbour entered the NSW Premier’s Seniors Writing Competition presenting the fact that “in our latter years the game is not necessarily over”.

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“There is still plenty of time and opportunity to pursue those dreams of younger days and, indeed, fulfil those dreams,” Graham told News Of The Area.

“The short story is basically a timeline encompassing my childhood passion to play cricket at the highest level.

“There is a focus on the obstacles, including my limited ability, that I encountered along the way.

“The opportunities that arose in my retirement years led to representation for NSW at senior cricket national tournaments and the story documents that journey.

“‘What’s age got to do with it?’ was the title of the (writing) competition.

“My response is…quite a lot…age can offer so many opportunities, all we have to do is take them and go on to realise our dreams.

“A small group of old ‘cricket tragics’ in Coffs Harbour has formed the Golden Oldies Cricket Club and now quite a large group meets in the nets weekly to train for games played against other regions and to participate in NSW State teams.

“What a great way to push the body into a meaningful fitness program, extend your social network and reflect upon past achievements.

“This opportunity has certainly lifted people off their lounges and improved their health and wellbeing…and we all have fun.

“My 41-year career in teaching and as an educational leader taught me that we should follow our passions and continue to pursue these right through our lives.

“In a life that has included a wonderful family, broad professional opportunities, the privilege of sharing the stage with many fine musicians and the challenges and fun of playing sport has been one that I believe has given me the balance to retire and remain mentally, socially and physically active.

“My life has been a reflection of the academic, art and cultural opportunities which have been offered.”

Graham Doust’s ‘Tales Of A Cricket Tragic’ is evidence of this freedom.

The NSW Seniors Stories was the first writing competition Jill Plummer had ever entered.

“You can imagine my surprise when my story – ‘Age Is Only a Number – Mine Is Unlisted’ – was accepted,” Jill said.

“I have always loved writing and when I saw the topic ‘What’s Age Got To Do With It?’ in the National Seniors website I thought why not give it a go, never expecting it would be accepted.

“The title resonated with me as I have always thought age is just a number, no big deal.

“It is how you feel about yourself and your life that is more important.

“So, what to write?

“Did I have anything worth writing about that would be interesting to others?

“Turns out I did.

“My idea came from my life since retiring.

“I moved away from Sydney to Coffs three years ago on my own, not knowing anyone here.

“It has been a journey of discovery for me…finding that I was a lot stronger than I thought and finding I could achieve goals I previously didn’t think I would be able to do on my own.

“Hence the tales of ‘Little Red’ my car, and my travels to many places I had only dreamed of.

“My story was only the tip of the iceberg and writing it brought back many other stories that happened along the way. “Maybe there are more stories to write.

“Being a Senior can be a lonely experience, but you are the only one who can fix this.

“You can be as active as you want or not and find like minded people in the many Community Groups here and I guess it’s a matter of finding what is right for you.

“There seems to be a diversity of interests on offer.

“I volunteer at 2Air FM, helping in the office on a Thursday.

“It is great fun and the people there are a great bunch to work with.

“So, from this still very surprised ‘published author’ life is too short for regrets so live your dreams, you may be surprised where they may lead you.”

Eric Burrows, who wrote ‘Intrepid Hiker’, read about the writing competition in the Seniors newsletter.

“Looking at the subject of the article I thought that my hike would fit the subject matter.

“My only writing before this was editing a newsletter for a yacht club in Melbourne.

“That was 15 to 20 pages every month for 10 years.

“I have done a course in short story writing but found that creating plots was not my forte.

“The competition had a limit of 1000 words.

“This I found difficult, as for me the walk was more interesting than the preparation but then I thought that the preparation made an interesting story on its own.

“I had to choose one or the other because of this limit so I chose the preparation.

“My views on ageing are somewhat mixed.

“I have always been busy sailing, hiking, and doing photography, but just when retirement gives you the time it is more difficult to maintain the necessary level of fitness.

“I do believe that as you get old you must maintain your interests and exercise.”

Eric believes the last sentence in his story submission illustrates his views on the topic perfectly, which reads, ‘You can say that you are too tired, too frightened, not fit enough, but don’t say that you are too old’.

By Andrea FERRARI