Barrie McMahon

Barrie McMahon had a lifelong interest in Australian history, communication and folklore. He also loved writing. When he retired as a professional educator, he turned to something he had always wanted to do: writing historical fiction.

Striking Out is a sequel to Barrie’s solo novel Copyboy, set in 1946 Perth and published in 2015. He had always been fascinated by Kalgoorlie and decided that his three main Copyboy characters would move there for different reasons in 1948. This would give him the excuse to go back to the Goldfields and gather the stories of people who remembered what it was like there in those days.

Unfortunately Barrie was not able to finish the book, succumbing to cancer in 2017. His wife Jan and son Peter promised him they would finish it.