Author(s): Geoff Harwood

Regional History | Biography & Memoir | Staff Pick

"Jackey Stevens doesn't want anything Mishter. If Jack starts wanting, there is no end to it."Clarence John Lyell Stevens - Jackey - "can't bear to be anywhere near others," Queenstown old-timers told Geoff Harwood. "He won't talk to anybody." Yet Jackey did talk to Geoff.Across a creek and through a dense thicket of coral fern, Jackey's distinctive footprints led Geoff to Jack's camp, a ramshackle structure shared with the Brown Serpent. Geoff became a regular visitor, and somehow Jack always knew if Geoff was coming. He would stoke up his tiny fire and, in its feeble glow, Geoff slowly pieced together Jack's remarkable, tragic, yet strangely uplifting story. The Last Hermit is testament to a most extraordinary friendship. "An un-put-downable tale flows effortlessly from Geoff Harwood's pen."-Pete Hay