Memoir Bundle

Dive deep into the history of Fremantle Press with this curated memoir bundle. Start with A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey, the unforgettable memoir that helped put Fremantle Press on the publishing map through its moving account of resilience, courage and love. Then continue the journey in Linda Martin’s A Tale of Two Publishing Houses, which explores the period around A Fortunate Life’s publication as well as the evolution of Fremantle Press, which ultimately led to Linda starting an independent publishing house of her own. This bundle also includes a Fremantle Press supporter enamel pin and an A.B. Facey quote card. A.B. Facey (d.1982) A.B. Facey was born in 1894 and grew up on the Kalgoorlie goldfields and in the wheatbelt of Western Australia. His father died before he was two and he was deserted by his mother soon afterwards. He was looked after by his grandmother until he was eight years old, when he went out to work. His many jobs included droving, hammering spikes on the railway line from Merredin to Wickepin and boxing in a travelling troupe. He was in the Eleventh Battalion at the Gallipoli landing; after the war, he became a farmer under the Soldier Settlement Scheme but was forced off the land during the Depression. He joined the tramways and was active in the Tramways Union. A.B. Facey, who had no formal education, taught himself to read and write. He made the first notes on his life soon after World War I, and filled notebooks with his accounts of his experiences. Finally, on his children’s urging, he submitted the handwritten manuscript to the Press. He died in 1982, nine months after A Fortunate Life had been published to wide acclaim. A.B. Facey was born in 1894 and grew up on the Kalgoorlie goldfields and in the wheatbelt of Western Australia. His father died before he was two and he was deserted by his mother soon afterwards. He was looked after by his grandmother until he was eight years old, when he went out to work. His many jobs included droving, hammering spikes on the railway line from Merredin to Wickepin and boxing in a travelling troupe. He was in the Eleventh Battalion at the Gallipoli landing; after the war, he became a farmer under the Soldier Settlement Scheme but was forced off the land during the Depression. He joined the tramways and was active in the Tramways Union. A.B. Facey, who had no formal education, taught himself to read and write. He made the first notes on his life soon after World War I, and filled notebooks with his accounts of his experiences. Finally, on his children’s urging, he submitted the handwritten manuscript to the Press. He died in 1982, nine months after A Fortunate Life had been published to wide acclaim. Linda Martin Linda Martin is co-publisher and editor at Night Parrot Press. She has extensive publishing experience, having held positions of senior in-house editor at UWA Publishing, production manager at Fremantle Press and having worked as a freelance editor for publishing houses, including Fremantle Press and Magabala Books. She currently lectures in editing and publishing at Edith Cowan University (where she was awarded her PhD), and has lectured in publishing and writing at Curtin University and at the University of Western Australia. Linda is co-editor of flash-fiction anthologies Once: A selection of short stories, Twice Not Shy, and Three Can Keep a Secret (Night Parrot Press), maar bidi: next generation black writing (Magabala Books) and is series editor for the little journal (Writing WA). Her creative fiction and non-fiction writing has been published in Westerly, Cordite Scholarly and in international flash-fiction journals. She is passionate about the publishing industry in Western Australia and enjoys mentoring emerging writers and editors. Linda Martin is co-publisher and editor at Night Parrot Press. She has extensive publishing experience, having held positions of senior in-house editor at UWA Publishing, production manager at Fremantle Press and having worked as a freelance editor for publishing houses, including Fremantle Press and Magabala Books. She currently lectures in editing and publishing at Edith Cowan University (where she was awarded her PhD), and has lectured in publishing and writing at Curtin University and at the University of Western Australia. Linda is co-editor of flash-fiction anthologies Once: A selection of short stories, Twice Not Shy, and Three Can Keep a Secret (Night Parrot Press), maar bidi: next generation black writing (Magabala Books) and is series editor for the little journal (Writing WA). Her creative fiction and non-fiction writing has been published in Westerly, Cordite Scholarly and in international flash-fiction journals. She is passionate about the publishing industry in Western Australia and enjoys mentoring emerging writers and editors.