Australian Bush Classics: The RM Williams Collection

Sunday, I was listening to Cowboy Corner on our local radio station. As he often does, Red Steagall read a cowboy poem - only this one was a bush poem from Australia, a slight variation on his usual offering. There aren't many poems that prompt me to break out in laughter, right out loud, but this one did: it was just too, too true about the funnier side of human nature. So I went in search of the book in which this poem is published.

Debbie Bowman, Assistant to Red Steagall and event coordinator for The Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering, was kind enough to help me after I ran up against a blank wall on my own. Between what she gave me and some sleuthing on the Internet, I've determined that what I'm looking for to stock in the store (assuming the price isn't out of line) is The Australian Bush Classics: The R.M. Williams Collection, ISBN 9780957970, published 2001 in Australia. My husband has also run across mention of an audio book version. So far, though, we haven't found any supplier in this country that actually stocks this title (sigh). Ah, well, we're not horribly shy about pestering publishers, if it comes to that...

I've also discovered that the late R.M. Williams seems to be a well-known person in Australia. See here and here for example.