BEYOND WORLD
SAFARI…
The authorized
biography of Alby Mangels
by Lynn Santer
©
Copyright, Mangels Santer, 2006
“Lynn Santer has managed to
corral, tame and dissect the wild man that is Alby Mangels between the pages of
this insightful biography.” - Barry Crocker, Entertainer, Order of
“Alby Mangels is a state of mind, and Lynn Santer is a gift
who fell from the sky.” –
“Honest, uplifting, courageous.” –
“The impassioned Lynn Santer, queen of biographers,
does it again. This time she captures the man and the myth, Alby
Mangels.” –
“Touching, inspiring, fun, and wise, Lynn
Santer’s biography of the irrepressible adventurer Alby Mangels is an exciting
journey into the inner workings of a man who explored the world and dared to
dream.” - Pamela Jaye Smith, author of
INNER DRIVES, and award-winning Hollywood film-maker. www.mythworks.net
"Before Crocodile Dundee and the Crocodile
Hunter, Alby Mangels brought the forgotten world to our
houses in ‘World Safari’. In 'Beyond World Safari', Lynn Santer
presents for the first time ever, the truth behind the legend - Alby
Mangels, in the confronting and spiritually
enlightening authorized biography of the journey
behind the journey." - Matthew Kick, Adult Educator and acclaimed
Novelist of 'Murky Waters'.
About Lynn Santer
Lynn
Santer’s first novel, Sins of Life,
was the best-selling title for Minerva Press (UK) in 1999. Since then this
prolific writer has written and ghostwritten thirteen books and twenty feature screenplays,
including the controversial bestsellers Land
of the Free and Professor Midnight.
Hollywood veterans have optioned her feature screenplays and her short film and
live theatre productions have won numerous awards.
Lynn’s
list of celebrity clients, who have commissioned her to write their deeply
personal stories, includes:
®
Saddam Hussein’s former personal pilot, Captain Ali
Al-Wahabi,
®
World-champion figure skater,
®
Heroism award winning search and rescue pilot,
Rosemarie McRae
®
Multi awarded humanitarian, medical doctor, Doctor
Albert Gewargis, and
®
Renowned psychic, Monica Hamers-Ward.
Born and
raised in London, Lynn has been a crusader for causes since she was a small
child, winning her first award for animal welfare when she was just eleven
years old. She has traveled the world
and played a hands-on role in hot spots of Africa to help preserve the
endangered big cats that are her passion in life. In this capacity, she has
worked with many famous names, including:
®
Virginia McKenna, who played Joy Adamson in the
immortal classic Born Free and who
now runs the Born Free Foundation,
®
Lynn’s close friend, Tippi Hedren, Alfred
Hitchcock’s legendary and ageless star of The
Birds, who now runs The ROAR Foundation and who is involved with Lynn is
adapting Land of the Free into a
motion picture,
®
Roger Gale, MP (UK), past Vice Chairman of the
Conservative Party and current Chairman of the Conservative Animal Welfare
Group, and
®
Meryl Harrison, past Chief Inspector with the
Zimbabwe SPCA, honored for bravery by the International Animal Welfare League,
the BBC in the UK and the International RSPCA. Rotary also have bestowed their
highest non-Rotarian honor on her, The Paul Harris Award.
In 2001,
Lynn was responsible for bringing together a team from across three continents
and two hemispheres to plan a covert operation with ex Special Forces
commandos. Together they exposed atrocities against endangered big game by some
of the wealthiest men on earth. The fictionalization of this story formed the
basis of her bestseller, Land of the Free.
See
the end of this book for a complete list of other titles by Lynn Santer.
Dedicated to my mother, Adriana
(Sjaan) Van De Schaght-Mangels, who was strong, courageous, joyous and wise,
whose silent valor and integrity inspired me to overcome all obstacles, and
whose love remains with me to this day.
In fond
memory of those special people and animals who have shared and enriched my
life,
no longer
on mortal coil:
my mother,
my father, Piers Souter, Sam,
and too
many more…
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
Do not stand by my grave and cry,
I am not there I do not die.
So heed these words that I do say,
I am the love to guide your way.
With
special thanks to
KB (Kevin
Brian Goldner)
Danny
Kennedy
Andrew Ward
John Field
Don McLeod
My sister,
Ria
My brother,
Tony
My nephew,
Rick Snel
Les Stone
Judy Green
Lucinda
Dunn
Michelle
Els
SYNOPSIS
While this
book will cover the story behind the story of the explorer who inspired a
generation with his hit movie series “World Safari”, it will also delve deeply
into the man behind the myth. Alby wants
people to learn from the experiences he’s had, not just about conservation, the
environment, and humanitarianism, but also about humanity as a whole. Alby has been many things in his life: an
adventurer, a conservationist, a movie star, a playboy, and an entertainer. But he’s also been a son, a brother, an uncle,
and despite all the public attention he’s been an intensely private
individual.
From his public persona few would
know that for over twenty years Alby’s had an interest in spirituality,
although he’d be the first to admit he didn’t really know how to develop a path
to enlightenment. A near tragic accident
in early 2005 changed this. Lying in
bed, unable to move, Alby made a promise to himself: if he was able to walk
unencumbered again he would make every effort to look a little deeper, both
inward to himself and outward to learn all he could about how humanity, nature,
the world and the universe interact with one another.
This book will surprise you. It contains elements of the Alby you know,
his adventures, his loves, and his tragedies, but it also explores a side of
Alby you’ve never seen before as the real Zwier Albertus Mangels (Alby) finally
steps forward.
FOREWORD
He
posed nude for Cleo magazine while behind the limelight, together with his
sister, Ria, Alby founded “The Friends of the Disabled Association Inc”, a
charity aimed at improving the quality of life for paraplegics and
quadriplegics. He was accused of animal
cruelty after he’d thrown himself headlong into a crocodile infested river to
rescue a small fawn who’d inadvertently become stranded. He was looked on by some as a light-weight,
yet “World Safari II” won “Best Family Film of the Year” at the Los Angeles
Film Festival and “Friends of the Disabled” won several awards for a
revolutionary new wheelchair design.
People are quick to judge from scant surface gossip, ignoring other
less-publicized facts such as Alby has helped establish awareness for world’s
endangered mountain gorillas, and he’s volunteered to visit hospices and jails
to show his films. He still visits
hospices today. While the rest of us sit
down to a hearty meal on Christmas Day, Alby is getting his hands dirty with
those less fortunate than ourselves.
Such is the enigma of this misunderstood and often maligned man.
Few are aware that shortly after “World Safari II” outgrossed Hollywood blockbusters released in the same year, Alby lost his empire, his fortune, and his reputation. Over the fifteen years that followed he quietly rose again, like a phoenix from the ashes, while helping both wildlife and humans who crossed his path needing assistance along the way. Yet he never once sought to declare his benevolence or address his critics. It’s time to rectify that situation.
Having been given the opportunity to write Alby’s life story I hope his fans will believe I’ve done it justice from the information as it was provided to me. It has certainly been an experience to write this biography in an attempt to set the record straight once and for all.
Lynn
Santer
CONTENTS
Chapter one – Getting to
know Alby
Chapter two – Where it all
began
Chapter three – Honor thy
mother
Chapter four – Into the
great unknown
Chapter five – The birth of
World Safari
Chapter six – Leaving the
Klaraborg
Chapter seven – Blood,
sweat, laughter and tears
Chapter eight – Gretta Marie
takes sail
Chapter nine – Sam steals
the show
Chapter ten – Desperado
Chapter eleven – Judy Green
joins the World Safari adventure
Chapter twelve – An
unsolved mystery, a wound that never heals
Chapter thirteen – The show
must go on
Chapter fourteen – Fortune
favors the bold
Chapter fifteen – Success!
Chapter sixteen – Living
the dream
Chapter seventeen –
Paradise lost
Chapter eighteen – The
deepest cut of all
Chapter nineteen – Living
in the Twilight Zone
Chapter twenty – The
phoenix rises from the ashes
Chapter twenty-one – The
thirst for adventure that never can be quenched
Chapter twenty-two – The
wisdom of the simple life
Chapter twenty-three – The
plight of the pachyderms
Chapter twenty-four – On a
wing and a prayer
Chapter twenty-five – The
onset of maturity
Chapter twenty-six – The
power of NOW
Chapter twenty-seven –
Ideals to live by for mind, body and the planet
Chapter twenty-eight –
You’ve got to have friends
Chapter twenty-nine – The
journey continues
Chapter one
Getting to know Alby
“When in doubt, tell the truth.” Mark Twain.
Although I believed I knew Alby
well before I began collating information for his biography, I quickly
discovered the Alby I knew was barely a part of the whole. Alby’s public persona of larrikin,
adventurer, and conservationist all contain elements of this surprisingly
complex character, but to truly appreciate the full picture of the Alby Mangels
jigsaw puzzle you must put aside what you think you know and view his deeply
personal biography with entirely fresh eyes.
As
I journeyed with Alby through the memoirs of his life, in one moment his antics
would leave me gasping for breath, or shaking my head in disbelief, yet in the
next instant he’d recount an anecdote that had me holding my sides with
laughter. Despite this, Alby has asked
me not to build him up too much. He can
come across as incredibly humble when one takes into consideration all he’s
achieved. However, to do anything less
than telling the whole story as I understand it would be to dishonor the legacy
this man has created, and a disservice to the fans out there who are craving to
know why Alby disappeared from sight over a decade ago.
Originally
I wanted to open Alby’s biography by saying, “From humble beginnings in a
country still suffering from the ravages of World War II, a young boy began a
voyage that was to touch the souls of millions.” While few could deny this is true what is
more important to Alby today are the lessons he has learned in life, lessons he
wants to share with the world. The story
of how a Dutch boy became an icon who was hero-worshipped by many while being
the envy of boyhood fantasies across a nation, and indeed the world, has been
well documented in the past. What has
not been so well documented is Alby’s determination to make a difference in the
world whether that be through his hands-on efforts in planting thousands of
trees to help the environment, his quiet roadside assistance to a single eagle
with a broken wing, or visiting criminals in jail to screen his movies. Everywhere he has seen pain and suffering he
has tried to leave a mark of improvement, however small that mark might
be. On some level he seemed to innately
know that random acts of kindness have a way of repeating on themselves
creating a gradual but undeniable snowball effect.
Alby has
described himself as a lover not a fighter.
But Alby is a fighter, a fighter for what he believes is right, a
fighter to achieve against all odds and obstacles, and a fighter for the
voiceless victims who are unable to fight for themselves. And he’s a lover too… of nature, of
tranquility, and of family. Nowhere more
deeply have I seen the expression of this love than in the admiration, devotion,
and adoration Alby holds for his mother.
The hardship she endured, and the courageous face she put on a brutal
and crippling illness that took her from Alby when he was only in his teens,
has left an indelible mark in Alby’s heart.
Her dying words, and the provocation for those words, might explain a
great deal to some of those who have shared Alby’s life.
If a
person is a sum total of their experiences then according to Alby’s newly
adopted philosophy, people still have much to learn. Experiences may indeed go part way to shaping
a person’s personality, but if everyone carried around their painful
experiences (and we all have them) they could never learn to live in the
“now”. Alby has certainly had more than
his fair share of tragedies, yet he has learned through this philosophy to draw
positives from everything. He’s learned
to shape the future by focusing totally on the present. He’s learned that if a person can find inner
peace they are richer than any material wealth could ever provide. It is this philosophy of enlightenment that
we will attempt to share with you as the journey of Alby’s life unfolds within
these pages. Some may call this “New
Age” thinking, however there is no such thing as “New Age”. “New Age” is in fact rather old age, antediluvian
in antiquity if you care to look.
Elements
of the “now” philosophy can quite clearly be seen ancient philosophies and
mysticism. In this, the dawning of The
Age of Aquarius, there is a steady and certain undercurrent stirred by a quiet
minority around the world who are leading a movement towards a more cosmic
awareness for us all. Humankind is
slowly beginning to learn they are not in fact the center of the universe, and
if they are to survive they need to wake up to themselves before it’s too
late. So how did someone like Alby
Mangels discover the “now” philosophy? Well
stay with me as together we explore that development. But for now, let’s go back to where it all
began.
Chapter two
Where it all began
“The childhood shows the man as morning shows the
day.” John Milton from “Paradise
Regained”.
Born 16th November,
1948, in the depression of post-war Europe, Alby arrived into a world riddled
with gloom and despondency. Friends and
neighbors were fleeing their homeland to destinations all over the globe in an
attempt to make a better life for themselves.
It must have been hard for a small child to understand why people he
knew kept disappearing from his life, and harder still to imagine that life
could be any different from the limited breadth of his knowledge. From those lowly beginnings Alby was already
looking for positives everywhere, forming the foundation of two qualities that
were to remain with him for the rest of his life. The first was to make the most out of
whatever he had, and the second was to treasure the close bond he enjoyed with
his family. With little to their name,
Alby and his elder brother and sister would often find pleasure in skating on
the frozen canals in their mother country of Holland. It was energetic, it was healthy, and it was
free.
Zwier
Albertus Mangels seemed a big name for the youngest member of a family who had
so little that they lived in the cellar of farmer’s property. So cramped were their living quarters that
Alby’s bedroom was literally a bed in a closet shared with his brother, Tony. It is, perhaps, little wonder that he grew up
with an insatiable desire to explore wide open spaces and live in an area of
vast expanse with no boundaries. But
before that day could come many childhood and adolescent dramas awaited the
young Alby Mangels.
In 1955,
with the children aged 10, 9, and 8, Alby’s parents, Adriana (Sjaan) and
Johannes (Jos), decided to follow the lead of Alby’s aunt and emigrate to
Australia. Jos was struggling to make
ends meet as a leather tanner in post war Holland, although the struggle never
seemed to dampen his spirit. Alby
recalls his father was a peaceful man who was always whistling; never once can
Alby remember him getting angry. It was
a courageous decision not only because they were moving countries, continents,
and hemispheres, but because Jos had no job to go to and none of them spoke a
word of English. Packing their goods and
saying their good-byes set the scene for many a replay in Alby’s life. He has quite lost count of how many times he
has packed his bag and said good-bye since that fateful boarding of the Southern Cross bound for a world full of
hope and promise. It was a trip that was
to cement his thirst for exploration and adventure, not to mention the final
voyage of this ill-fated liner.
The ship was aptly named after the Southern Cross constellation, a celestial formation eagerly sought by travelers from the north visiting the southern hemisphere. Although the amazing star colors could barely be recognized by the naked eye, it was nonetheless the most notable and noticeable constellation in southern hemisphere skies. The cross was formed by four main stars marking the tips, the same four stars represented on the New Zealand flag. A smaller star, separate from the cross, was adopted for Australia’s flag, making the Southern Cross deeply personal for both these sister nations. It was perhaps therefore ironic that the vessel bearing its name and carrying the Mangels family to their new home met with near disaster between the shores of New Zealand and Australia. If not for the quick thinking of the Captain and crew, and a lot of blind luck, Alby’s first voyage could have been his last. Caught in violent swells and past the point of no return, Alby and his family could do little more than cling on for dear life and pray that they would live to see the sun rise again on a new day.
When the Southern Cross finally arrived in Australia, after averting near disaster, Alby’s father had just ten pounds in his pocket. For a short while they lived as virtual refugees in a camp with others from Holland who had fled after severe flooding at the time. Securing employment was Jos’s first priority, and this he achieved in the pine forests of Mount Burr in the south east of South Australia. The job provided an income, but despite working long hours for the local forestry commission every day remained a struggle to make ends meet. Jos couldn’t afford more than a basic rental property in the forest that provided them with their meager income, yet there, under the ageless shade of an evergreen tree, Alby began his love for all in nature. Their home may have been humble but Alby had all the wide open spaces of rural Australia as his playground. They couldn’t afford to buy luxurious meals, but fresh meat was readily and affordably available. They were alive, they were healthy, and they were together. And there was something more, they were away from the rush and pollution of city life. Even as a child Alby sought the solitude that nature could provide, finding solace in the silence of the forest. It was the beginning of an awareness that would not fully dawn until many decades into his adult life.
Back in Holland, after the floods in which thousands of people died, the family had been reduced to eating horse meat on many occasions. In Australia, however, they were fortunate enough to regularly dine on beef and chicken. It was a real treat, and one that neither Alby nor any other member of his family took for granted. Living within the pine forest also gave Alby and his brother and sister plenty of opportunity to do something else he has since spent a lifetime devoted to… they explored. In Holland it was almost impossible to roam through kilometers of countryside that hadn’t been tarnished by human development, while in Australia the untamed and unspoiled wilderness seemed to reach into infinity.
As only a child can, Alby loved with complete purity of spirit everything that moved and breathed. He saw beauty everywhere. He learned about the true and full richness of Mother Nature, and from there his love affair with the environment began. As children so often do, at night he’d gaze at the winking stars, perhaps wondering what they might look like from the other side of the planet, and at the same time being thankful that he finally had a bedroom window to gaze through at all. As he gazed at those stars Alby conjured up images of far away places, romantic danger, and exotic people, wondering if names like Egypt, Amazon, and Tonga were real places, not realizing then that they were places he would one day be famed for exploring.
Sadly
though, childlike enthusiasm could not deny an undeniable reality of life. These days more than half of all marriages
end in divorce, and Alby’s parents fell into that statistic. Just eighteen months after they arrived in
Australia the pair separated. It had
never exactly been a love match in the first place. While Alby loved both his parents, the fact
was their marriage had been what Alby called “slightly arranged”, and the
passionate love romanticized in Hollywood movies that many aspire to was never
a part of that arrangement. When Alby’s
father took in a lodger, Bert, to help pay their way it was the beginning of
the end. Bert was smooth, charming, and
showered Alby’s mother with attention.
He taught her how to drive, he told her about life in the city, and he
convinced her there was a better life for her children outside of outback
Australia. Believing Bert’s promises,
Alby’s mum eventually decided to head for town.
The split came neither easily nor quickly. There were many months of soul-searching
before the decision was finally taken, but eventually it was agreed that Alby’s
father and brother Tony would remain in the forest, while Ria, Alby, and their
mum would move to the town of Murray Bridge on the River Murray.
Far from
making things easier this put additional financial strain on the situation as
Alby’s mother couldn’t afford a home in her own right. Instead they rented a modest dwelling with
Bert on the banks of the river, where they quickly discovered all his
assurances of grandeur were empty promises.
To make ends meet Alby’s devoted and determined mum worked every job she
could hold down in order to forge a future for Ria and Alby. She worked long hours in several positions
concurrently, picking oranges, cleaning homes, whatever it took. The respect and admiration Alby held for his
mother grew with each passing day as he witnessed the effort and lengths she
would go to in order to ensure those she loved were well cared for. By the time he was thirteen he couldn’t bare
watching her struggle any longer. Alby
decided to leave school, in agreement with his mother who admitted she could no
longer afford to pay for the education.
Realizing he wouldn’t finish even the most basic education didn’t worry
Alby; he was keen to enter the workforce to help out, with dreams of becoming a
jockey.
Unofficially
Alby had been in the workforce since he was eleven years old, working in
stables. He loved horses; and he hated
school. Every Wednesday when the races
came around he would ask his mother if he could go; every Wednesday she said
no. Never one to take “no” for an
answer, Alby started writing his own notes to say he was sick and needed the
day off school. It didn’t take long for
his teacher to get wise to him, in fact one day she turned to the class and
said, “We have a short week next week: Labor Day on Monday and the races on
Wednesday.” The whole class turned to
look at Alby!
By the
age of thirteen he was working openly in the stables, believing he’d become a
jockey when he turned fourteen (the minimum age requirement). However age wasn’t the only requirement to
become a jockey; it was also a prerequisite to be below a certain weight. Knowing this Alby pulled out all stops to
keep his weight down; he’d even climb into horse dung up to his neck to sweat
it off! When the day finally arrived for
him to be tested, the stewards looked at his hands and feet and determined he
wouldn’t be able to keep his size and weight down sufficiently to qualify. He was allowed to ride as an amateur jockey,
but even then he quickly became too big for the job. During his unofficial tenure in this
profession he did manage to win one race, and together with the owner of the
horse became so drunk on his winnings that when the men accompanying him home
stopped at the roadside to relieve themselves, Alby wandered off into the
bush. The next thing he knew he was up a
tree and the grown ups were all looking for him. The mischievous child thought this was a
wonderful joke, until he realized he had to get home somehow.
Staggering
back to where he’d left his pushbike, Alby tried to ride home – an exercise in
futility because he fell off his manpowered vehicle with every second
pedal! In the end he gave up and walked
(staggered) home… five miles. Sneaking
in through his bedroom window so as his mother wouldn’t discover he was drunk,
he was feeling pretty smart. Of course
his mother heard him.
“Are you
okay?” she called out worriedly.
“Yeah,
I’m fine mum. Just tired.”
Of course
no self-respecting mother would have believed him, but as all self-respecting
mothers do, Sjaan knew her child had to start learning his own lessons.
When it
became apparent he couldn’t become a professional jockey, Alby started drinking
liters of milk every day and lifting weights.
He reasoned if he couldn’t keep his size down then he’d be as fit and
strong as he could make himself instead.
He started popping vitamins and protein tablets at the age of fifteen,
giving birth to the health regime he still practices today.
Always
resourceful and resolute, Alby began earning money by collecting empty bottles
and scrap metal, supplemented by newspaper sales in the local hotels. Shortly thereafter he found work as a baker’s
apprentice, although he wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the 1:30am
starts. Ditching that idea quickly the
next job he took on was at a service station, thinking he could learn how to be
a motor mechanic. Unfortunately the
station’s owner was only prepared to allow Alby to serve petrol, so in a wave
of indignation Alby handed in his resignation wondering how he was ever going
to convert any form of career goal into a reality.
Searching
both his creative mind and the local community an idea sparked. Murray Bridge was surrounded by farms that
always seemed to be in need of assistance; perhaps he could secure an
apprenticeship to become a farmer.
Setting out with a new spring in his step it didn’t take Alby long to
find a landowner happy to secure his services to clear land and cart
stones. Although it was hard work, he
loved it. His new career goal took shape
in a matter of days; Alby decided he was going to own his own farm. There’d be plenty of fresh air, horses, fresh
food, and open spaces. It seemed
ideal. Enthusiastically he put all his
energies into making himself invaluable to the farmer, or so he thought, while
continuing to train a race horse every morning before his farm duties.
A few
months later his dream was dashed yet again.
Jobs on the farm dried up and teenage Alby was back on the streets
looking for work, thinking life in the real world was certainly not meant to be
easy. He picked up casual labor as a
railway shunter and a shearer’s roustabout, where he learned a skill he really
wasn’t quite ready for. The shearers of
that era drank heavily and anyone who was considered a part of the team was
expected to keep up. Well, that wasn’t
for him either as, by the age of fourteen, he’d already become a health
fanatic.
From
there he looked into a career in carpentry, which led him by natural
progression into the building industry, and that was where he trained to
acquire his first true skill – bricklaying.
It might not have been something that would see him rise to the top of
the corporate tower, but corporate citizenship had never factored into Alby’s
thinking. He relished anything that
involved physical activity; and more importantly at the end of each day he
could stand back and actually see what he’d accomplished. Finally he felt he’d found his niche. The town was growing rapidly, there was no
shortage of work, and he was able to provide a steady income stream to help his
weary mother. He gave three pounds, out
of the four pounds a week he earned, to his mum and was quite happy with
that.
Meanwhile,
Bert had become an albatross around their necks. At first he seemed to be the answer to
Sjaan’s prayers; charismatic, and purporting to be supportive of Alby and
Ria. It wasn’t until much later that
they all discovered a tiny glitch in this new arrangement. Even before any revelations were exposed,
neither Ria nor Alby took to their so-called step-father. He espoused promises of financial
independence yet never offered any tangible monetary support, and over time
they discovered he was a closet drinker.
Initially Bert was polite and helpful, but Alby couldn’t shake a
niggling sensation which assured him this man was not to be trusted. Sure enough the phony façade was dropped the
instant they began cohabitating as a family.
From that moment on the step-father began to dominate the
household. Alby and Ria struggled to
keep peace in the family home for their mother’s sake, but increasingly it was
becoming an impossible task.
On one
particular occasion, Alby was trying to relax after a long and tiring day’s work
when his step-father started hurling vile abuse at his mother, calling her
terrible names. It was late in the
evening in the dead of winter and Ria wasn’t dressed for the harsh cold
outside, but this outburst upset her so much that she ran out of the house. Naturally Alby and his mother chased after
her, concerned for her well-being. When
they found her, frozen and shaking, she was returned to the family home only to
discover, and not for the first time, that they’d been locked out. They knew the step-father was inside, even
though he’d gone through the charade of turning all the lights off. Peering inside one of the windows Alby caught
sight of the glinting end of a cigarette.
Squinting against the darkness it became evident Bert was smugly sitting
in an armchair refusing to acknowledge the existence of Alby, Ria or their
mum. Alby knocked on the door time and
again until the knocking became an enraged hammering. Alby, Ria and Sjaan were cold, incredulous,
and emotionally wounded. Through burning
tears of disbelief they persistently called out to Bert wanting only to be
allowed into their own home, yet equally persistently he feigned not to hear
their desperate cries.
During
this phase of his life there was a brief period of respite when Alby’s mum had
an opportunity to visit family in Holland with Ria. Simultaneously Bert was taken ill and
admitted to hospital. Suddenly Alby was
all alone for the first time in his life, and he was determined to make the
most of it. Sitting around with his
first real boss, Les Stone, Alby remembers wolf-whistling at passing girls,
only to have proverbial cold water thrown over him by Les when they saw one
particularly attractive lady pushing a pram.
“That’ll
be you one day,” Les laughed, suggesting Alby would become a husband and father
before he knew it. It seemed to Alby
that most men did follow that path, but even back then he didn’t like the sound
of this idea much. In an almost knee-jerk
reaction he quickly began a youthful rampage of hedonistic pleasure-seeking
which landed him in hot water on more than one occasion. He drove without a license, he went gambling
when he was underage, in fact if there was a way of getting into trouble, he
found it. All of his extra-curricula
activities soon attracted the attention of one especially vigilant police
officer who became set on locking Alby away for good.
When the
local cop found Alby gambling in the town’s saloon with jockey pals, the young
Mr Mangels didn’t attempt to deny his crime.
Even had he not been underage, gambling itself was illegal in those
days, so Alby’s case wasn’t helped any when the cop pulled out a $20 bill from
one of the pool table pockets. Probably
already knowing the answer to his question, the cop asked, “How did you get
here?” Alby didn’t see the point in
attempting to deny the truth so he answered honestly, “I drove.” That was it, down to the cop shop…
again. The neighborhood constabulary
made it perfectly clear the way Alby was carrying on he wouldn’t only end up in
Reform School, but as soon as he was old enough they’d have him in jail. Perhaps this is why Alby has a soft spot for
those behind bars today, perhaps there’s an element, “There but for the grace
of God go I.”
It was
only thanks to the influence of his boss at the time, Les Stone, that Alby was
ultimately kept on the straight and narrow.
Les not only taught Alby a trade, he was someone to look up to. Among other things, Alby recalls Les being a
superb footballer, good enough to be in the Adelaide league, something considered
an admirable quality in a small town.
Inspired by Les’s successes, Alby determined he didn’t want to be a
failure. He became a responsible worker,
wanting to impress the man who was more like a father to him than an employer.
Chapter three
Honor thy mother
“There
was never a great man who had not a great mother.” Olive Schreiner, author of
“Story of an African Farm”, 1883.
He was about to turn
sixteen. Alby Mangels the boy was
nearing the turning point that would see him physically become a man, although
from most perspectives he had already psychologically crossed that line. He was gainfully employed and he was on his
way to forging a respectable career for himself. He had proven he could face adversity and
handle challenges he might be presented with.
He was tough and healthy and he could cope with almost anything … or
could he?
His mother was so excited about Alby’s sixteenth birthday
that despite the fact they were still less than affluent, and despite the fact
that there growing tensions between Alby and his step-father, Sjaan was
determined to make Alby a sixteenth birthday party he would always
remember. She set about baking cookies,
inviting all his surfie friends to their home, and on the day of the big event
she spent hours decorating the house until it sparkled with the full depth of
her love and devotion. Brimming with
excitement, Alby couldn’t concentrate on his work as the time for his party
drew near. Seeing Alby was having
difficulty focusing on the task at hand, Les told him to knock off early and
head home. Alby didn’t need to be told
twice. He sped back to the family
residence glowing with the full exuberance of youth. As he drew up to the front door all that was
to change.
A sinking feeling hit the pit of his stomach as his step-father greeted
him unshaven, disheveled and drawn. Alby
tried to brush past him, attempting to ignore his very existence, but with
persistent force Bert pushed his entire bodily frame directly in the path of
the birthday boy.
“What are you so happy about?” he growled.
“Well, it’s my birthday,” Alby chirped.
“You wouldn’t be so happy if you knew your mother was
dying, would you?”
For a frozen moment in time Alby’s heart stopped. It was as though the world had physically
opened and swallowed him whole. It
couldn’t be true. It was just another
one of this wicked man’s twisted mind games.
“What are you talking about?” Alby finally stammered.
Alby felt faint… dizzy, sick, and faint. He was hot, cold, shaky, and wavering between
shock and denial. Not wanting to believe
it was true, he turned tail and headed frantically towards the family doctor,
all the time willing the grim reaper would take anyone from him but his mother. Time blurred.
Traffic disappeared in a hazy mist of tears. His mind was drowning in dread.
Screeching to a halt he found the local doctor just as he
was locking up the surgery for the day.
For a moment Alby just stood there, until the doctor seemed to
instinctively sense his presence. The
gentle-mannered man of medicine turned around to see the terrible pain in
Alby’s eyes.
“Is it true?” he almost whispered.
The doctor was pensively silent for a heartbeat before
quietly replying, “You’d better come inside.”
Alby didn’t need to hear
the words of confirmation; the doctor’s manner said it all.
“How long?” he heard himself asking.
“Not long. But
please, don’t tell her yet. Only your
step-father knows… and he shouldn’t have told you.”
In those days it was common practice not to tell the
patient, nor children, that they were dealing with a terminal illness. As her husband, Bert had been the only one
given the dreadful news.
Shaking away his tears and harnessing all the inner
strength he could muster to fashion a mask of denial and joy, Alby returned to
his birthday party. About the last thing
in the world he wanted was to spend time with his friends celebrating the day
of his birth. He wanted to rush to his
mother, and hug her, and tell her how much he loved her and admired her, and
assure how he’d do anything and everything within his power to make her better
if he only could.
Ria and Alby continued pretending they knew nothing until
their mother’s deteriorating state of health demanded facing reality. As her time grew near fluid had to be pumped
out of her stomach into a bag the doctor had attached. She shriveled away from the strong, beautiful
woman they had grown up with until she was an ashen shell incapable of doing
anything for herself. Yet never once did
she cry or complain in front of Ria or Alby.
She was courageous and dignified to the very end. In the last weeks she was admitted to
hospital where the doctors compassionately explained to Alby and Ria about the
final stages of the disease. Needless to
say, their words were of little comfort.
Over the course of her illness, Sjaan lost half her body weight. When it became clear her end was only days
away her three children refused to leave her side, maintaining a bedside vigil
watching the life force ebb away from her battle-scarred body, even as new life
was taking shape. At the time Ria was
pregnant with Alby’s nephew, Ricky.
One morning Sjaan stirred from a deep slumber and reached for Alby. As he took her frail hand in his, Alby’s
mother told him she believed it was the bad choices she made in marriage, and
the subsequent stress, that had given her cancer. It was her ardent dying wish that Alby not
get married too soon – he should be sure he saw the world first before making
any permanent decisions. The parting words and wishes of a
loved one make an indelible imprint on our minds. I am not making excuses for Alby, nor would
he want me to, because excuses and explanations are not required, but perhaps a
few people reading this book might just understand some of Alby’s attitudes and
views a little more clearly now. As I
lost my own father to a long and horrible illness while I was writing this book
I can empathize only too painfully with Alby’s sense of loss, and the lingering
memory of a parent’s final words. I
understand, and hope in some way this can help those who are fortunate enough
not to have lost a person they love understand, how the death of someone you
hold dearest to your heart can suddenly set your own life in a completely
different direction. This was the first,
but not the last, time the death of someone dear turned Alby’s life
around. The memory that Alby carries
with him is, that despite everything, his mother forgave the hardships she’d
endured with a free and loving heart.
“Albert,” she said, “in
the end remember the only thing you take with you is the love you have given
away.”
After the death of their mother, Alby and his brother Tony gradually became close again. Of his brother Alby says, “He is more than a great brother; Tony is one of the rare people that I would choose to have as a close friend.” Alby wishes he could see more of Tony, but the tyranny of distance keeps them apart. However, they speak regularly, every week or two, and Alby loves him very much. As for his sister, Ria, Alby says she’s the greatest lady he’s ever known, after his mother. He absolutely adores her and the thought of losing her would be like cutting Alby in half. She has a huge heart, and has devoted much of her life to helping underprivileged people, aside from giving Alby four wonderful nieces and nephews. Between Tony and Ria there are six children, all of whom Alby looks upon as his own. Ria’s second born, Rick Snel, teamed up with Alby for eight or nine years after he left school, traveling on many of Alby’s adventures with him. “He was great,” Alby said to me fondly, with a huge sparkling smile.
Tony, Alby and Ria couldn’t
afford a tombstone when Sjaan died, so Alby set about fortifying his mother’s
final resting place by pouring foundation around the grave with concrete in the
middle of it. It was with duplicitous
daring that his step-father visited Alby as he was completing the task,
instructing that the middle should be thin because when he died he was to be
buried with her. I guessed this was as
much about further taunting the man-child who had dared to stand up to him as
it was about a genuine request to be buried on top of Alby’s mother. Alby ignored his step-father and made the
concrete six inches thick with reinforcement, ensuring there was no way his
step-father would share his mother’s eternal slumber. The next day all of Alby’s belongings were
unceremoniously deposited on the front porch.
He’d been thrown out to fend for himself.
Having worked for so long it wasn’t a problem for Alby to
rent a place of his own. He even had a
few mates move in to help with the payments, so it actually didn’t cost him
much at all. Looking back on it now,
Alby doesn’t hold anything against his step-father, in fact in many ways he
feels he owes Bert a debt of gratitude for if he hadn’t been thrown out at that
point in time he likely would never have become the famed adventurer we know
today. Being forced to fend for himself
from early in life has made Alby what he is.
Children who are born to loving and wealthy families may be fortunate,
but equally they may never be tempted to seek the endless possibilities in
life. It is the depths of adversity that
sometimes breed great success stories, as an old adage says, “Necessity is the
mother of invention”.
Alby felt he had nothing to remain in Murray Bridge
for. While his mother’s death brought
him back into contact with his father and brother they had their own lives to
lead. His sister was married and
pregnant, his mother was dead, and his step-father didn’t want to know
him. Even when his great trek of “World
Safari I” began there were many times that had he had someone to come home to,
or money to return with, or someone to ask for money to bail him out of his
situation, he would have called it quits.
During the hard times in Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and India, it would
have been all too easy to turn around and give up. It was only a sense of determination born
from a belief that he had only himself to rely on that kept him going, kept him
fighting to become the success that he has.
When he looks at children from broken homes today Alby sees it can be
sad, but he can also see opportunity for if not for the childhood he’d had Alby
might be married with a couple of kids living out his life in obscurity in
suburbia. He is quick to say there is
nothing wrong with being married, having a couple of children and living in the
suburbs, but it wasn’t for Alby. He
wanted an adventurous, challenging life, roaming the world, sailing the high
seas, and meeting different cultures.
With that in mind he packed a bag, bought a map, and hit the road headed
for the top end of Australia.
Chapter eighteen
The deepest cut of all
“How you face adversity is a measure of your
character.” Alby Mangels.
There were many times when Alby thought he had sunk as low as he could go and despite the inspiration he received from the Zimbabwean farmer, after his bankruptcy and losing Michelle, this was one of those times. Once again, he was wrong. He’d lost his fortune, his empire, and the love of his woman, but he held onto the fact that he still had the love of the people; with that he could return to the dizzy heights of success he had once enjoyed. Somewhere out in the ether I believe a cosmic being beyond our understanding heard that thought and decided it was time to test him further. As if the cruel mistress who dealt the cards that dictated Alby’s fate wasn’t satisfied with the torment she’d inflicted on this man so far, as if she wanted to push him right to the edge of the precipice and then give him an extra little shove to see if he could cling on by his fingernails to a rope that she would set fraying, the worst was yet to come.
The highest rating current affairs TV shows in Australia decided to kick him while he was down. The two “crimes” he was accused of were (a) staging scenes in his films when everything was supposed to be authentic, and (b) throwing his dog (not Sam, another dog) out of a utility truck traveling at 80 kph. On the first count Alby pleads guilty, but explains. In fact had this “crime” occurred today I doubt there would so much as be a murmur about it as these days the public at large are far more aware of how films are made, even if they are “reality” films. However, back when Alby was making “World Safari” he was a pioneer of the genre, and the slightest sniff that anything wasn’t 100% authentic blew the entire legend up in smoke. Well here’s a reality check, boys and girls, about how “reality” shows really work.
Firstly, the problem associated with filming a reality show is that sometimes things happen when the camera isn’t turned on that is noteworthy to the “story”. When this occurs the scene is “staged” again (where possible) so the audience doesn’t miss out on something that might be either entertaining or vital to “the plot”. My goodness, that’s a shocking crime, don’t you think? Do you think modern day adventurers have never staged a scene in anything they’ve produced? I think not. Do you hear the world screaming “charlatan” to them? Of course you don’t, because now Alby has blazed the trail people understand that this is simply how the system works. Sometimes Alby did create scenes of complete fiction to “fill in the blanks” of a story line – sometimes. Most of what you saw was entirely real – he went on the journeys, took the risks, nearly killed himself countless times, and shudders today when he looks back on it all. So on occasion he felt it necessary to add something to the story where he felt something was missing - to this count, yes he pleads guilty and throws himself on the mercy of the court.
As for the second count – outrageous! The media showed footage of a dog being “thrown” out of a vehicle, another shot of Alby Mangels, and concluded that Alby threw his dog out. The logic was akin to: my dog has four legs, my cat has four legs, therefore my dog is a cat! Exhibit A before the jury: the dog was NOT thrown out of the vehicle, the dog saw something running in the scrub that captured his attention and he JUMPED out of the window. Exhibit B before the jury: the dog was unharmed, he rolled twice (making for sensational footage) got up and ran away in the peak of health. Exhibit C before the jury: Alby was driving the vehicle and therefore incapable of throwing anything anywhere, he was spotlighting and therefore driving at no more than 15 kph, and there were other people sitting along side who could testify to this fact. The cameraman, who was sitting on top of the vehicle, filmed the entire incident, and later went on national TV to say, “There’s Alby Mangels, your great animal lover, hurling his dog out of a ute.” It wasn’t even a ute (utility truck) it was in fact a station wagon.
So why, I hear you ask, did the cameraman turn against Alby? This too has a perfectly sound explanation. When Alby was forced into bankruptcy the large creditors were paid first, as is normal procedure, and the small creditors were paid last, or not at all if the big boys soaked up the spoils first. Again, these days such a process is readily understood by the pubic at large. The cameraman was a small creditor. He didn’t get paid (a debt of around $600) so he took his payment in the currency of a “pound of flesh”. There was nothing more complicated to it than that.
To give you but a few examples of how viciously iniquitous and erroneous the accusation of animal cruelty was, putting aside the instances you have already read about such as when Alby dived headlong into a crocodile infested river to save a stranded fawn, then try this. On his travels in outback Australia, Alby came across an injured foal and its mother. The horses appeared to be wild, but he approached them anyway. The foal was only a few hours old and had been attacked by wild dogs. There was a hole in its neck big enough to put a fist through and the poor creature had lost a lot of blood. Knowing he couldn’t help the foal where it was, Alby carried it (no light weight) back to the nearest farmhouse, with its mother following all the way. Inside a barn, nestled in straw, Alby tended to the foal’s wounds, milked the mother to feed her baby, and put everything aside for weeks to care for the infant until it was strong enough to run free again. This successful rescue was rewarded when Alby later revisited the area to see the young foal running strong and free.
Similarly, Alby was driving along a highway one inconsequential day when he noticed a huge wedge-tailed eagle standing in an unnatural position on the median strip. Naturally no one was stopping; equally naturally, Alby did. This large wild bird was more than capable of removing one of Alby’s digits without bruising its beak, yet he allowed Alby not only to approach but to handle him without a murmur of protest. Of course animals, as we all should be aware, have a more keenly developed sense of who is malevolent versus who is benevolent in this world. Perhaps this is partly because their focused brains are not cluttered with concerns about paying the mortgage and self-image, nor have they been told by their peers what supposedly isn’t possible in terms of intuitive perception. Alby could plainly see the bird’s wing was broken so after a few gentle words he reached out to see if the eagle would allow him to assist.
To his astonishment the bird of prey not only allowed Alby to pick him up but sat quietly in the back of Alby’s jeep, without covering or restraint, all the way to Alby’s property. There Alby applied first aid, splinting the wing, and nursed the eagle back to full health before releasing him once again to the wild where he belonged. Are these the acts of a man who would recklessly throw one of his own dogs out of a speeding vehicle?
Alby told me he has only ever lost his temper to the point where he got into a fist fight twice in his life, and both of these situations were over cruelty to animal issues he stumbled across. The first was in a pub where people were cheering over two dogs tearing each other to pieces, and Alby still bares the scar on his thumb from where a man nearly bit through his fragile tendon for daring to intervene. The other was on a beach where a passing tattooed bear of a man set his dog on an old man’s cats. The old man was in a wheelchair and crying for the bully to leave his cats alone. Even though the thug was far larger than Alby, and wearing leathers, where Alby was in swimmers having just come out of the ocean, he still successfully intervened (much to the shock and chagrin of his opponent). Alby Mangels inflict cruelty on an animal? NEVER!
Chapter nineteen
Living in the twilight zone
“Always forgive your enemies… nothing annoys them so
much.” Oscar Wilde.
Alby threw in the towel at the Australian media, vowing never to deal with them again. For the following fifteen years he was content to drift into obscurity and out of the public eye. But far from diminishing the legend that had grown up around him, as he suspected his disappearance would do, it did the reverse. Urban myths began to gather momentum, everyone asking the same thing, “What ever happened to Alby Mangels?” Well here is the long-awaited answer to that question…………………………
TO FIND OUT THE ANSWER… YOU’LL NEED TO BUY THE BOOK!!!
BUT PLEASE READ ON…
DOCUMENTARIES
BY ALBY MANGELS
World Safari I
World Safari
II
World Safari
III
Sailing the
Last Outback
Cattle Muster
Red Centre
Opal Fever
Giant Sea
Turtles
Primitive
Smoke People of
Komodo Dragons
The Most
Primitive People
The Giant
Anaconda
In Search of
the Bushmen
War Torn
Land of the
Long White Cloud
Deer Capture
Flying to
Remote Outposts in
The Great
While Stallion
Trek Across
Outback
Wonder of the
World –
The Wilds –
The Ghan Train
Trek across the Red Centre of
Run Away
Camels
Camel Capture
Alby and
nephew Rick live with the Aborigines in
Return to
Crossing the
Unique
Okavango Swamps
Saving the
Flamingos
Journey up the
West Coast of
Journey to the
Vanishing Gorillas
The Great
Atlantic Crossing
Crystal
Waters,
Escape from
Gold Hunters,
Amazon Jungle
Lost Indian
Culture,
The Drug
Triangle
The Slave Trade
Black and
White Beaches, The
Treacherous
Waters, The
My Mates
Australian
Outback
South to
Outback to
Winninninnie
Traveling
North,
Launching
Zenani
East to West,
Kagari to
Nimbin
Land of the
Ferals,
Over the
Horizon, New Hebrides and
In Search of
the Fallen Eagle
Island
Dreaming
Discovering a
President
Remote
North to
South,
Journey to
Reflections of
Rivers of the
Outback
Alby Mangels:
Born for Adventure, Part 1
Alby Mangels:
Born for Adventure, Part 2
Outback Muster
Alby’s Coorong
Cuba and
Bird Life on
the Coorong
Call of the
Coorong
Also by Lynn Santer
All
available at: http://www.lynnsanter.com
(on the SHOP/BOOKS page).
FAREWELL BRAVE BABYLON – Non-fiction (Co-authored
with Captain Ali Al-Wahabi)
Captain Ali Al-Wahabi, one of Saddam Hussein’s select
personal pilots, was raised in Baghdad believing everyone from the West to be
his enemy. Time spent abroad opened his mind to the duplicity of the Iraqi
leadership, and his heart to a desire for peace and harmony between peoples.
Readers will learn how Ali’s first-hand observations of the ruling élite in
Iraq disclosed a rare insight into their private lives, leading Saddam’s
personal pilot to a fateful decision. Torn between the love of his
homeland and his burning desire to flee from the Mukhabarat (Iraqi Intelligence
Service) who were pressuring him to betray a close friend, Ali conceived a
daring plan to escape the iron fortress of Baghdad. Landing a crippled jet
in a Hong Kong typhoon and a near-disaster in Rio are among the many
heart-stopping dramas in his page turning, mile-high, true-life
adventure. Today Captain Al-Wahabi has formed an initiative with
Chassidic Orthodox Israeli Rabbi, Nir Gurevitch, and a Christian friend,
Robyn Wigmore (a former spokesperson for World Vision) called Passion
for Peace to promote a message of tolerance and coexistence to the
leaders of tomorrow – our schoolchildren.
A percentage of all proceeds from this book will help fund that program.
BROTHER DOCTOR
– Non-fiction (Co-authored with Doctor Albert Gewargis)
The moving
and heroic tale of the Kurdish people … and one brave doctor who tried to heal
their wounds. Doctor Albert Gewargis, an Iraqi Assyrian Christian who has
been multiply awarded for his humanitarian heroism, endured gargantuan horrors
in a Herculean effort to save lives in remote northern Iraq during the 1974 war
against the Kurds by Saddam Hussein’s brutal forces, often walking for days
until his feet were in bleeding shreds when he received a call for help.
One of the many men who owe a debt of gratitude to this remarkable doctor is
none other than the President of Iraq in the post Saddam era. Brother
Doctor will inspire you and shock you demonstrating, as it does, the
inordinate compassion, courage and dedication of this man of medicine.
Leading you through the fairytale beauty and primitive harshness of Kurdish
existence, Brother Doctor’s physical and psychological trials are
interspersed with insightful historical perspective along with personal
encounters both terrifying and edifying. This electrifying account of
perseverance in the maelstrom of a world gone mad will bring you to tears while
leaving you with the inescapable conclusion that freedom is an ideal worth
fighting, dreaming, and dying for.
LAND OF THE
FREE – Fiction based on real events
The
slightly fictionalized version of a real-life adventure to expose brutal
atrocities against endangered big game by some of the wealthiest men on earth.
Hollywood legend, Alfred Hitchcock’s star of The Birds and Marnie,
turned big cat conservationist Tippi Hedren (who today runs a big cat
preserve called, Shambala) teamed with multi heroism award
winning conservationist, Meryl Harrison, and author Lynn Santer to hire ex
Special Forces commandos to plan a covert mission to infiltrate the activities
of Safari Club International. Every obstacle you can imagine was thrown
in their path but ultimately this determined band of unlikely collaborators
obtained both the visual and documented evidence they needed to expose the
dirty little secrets of the rich and shameless, details of which are now being
adapted into a major motion picture. Behind the glitz and glamour of high
profile events, and suffering the indignity of being vilified in the media as a
charlatan as she was unable to reveal the real covert mission at the time, Lynn
put everything on the line and Meryl was nearly axed to death as they doggedly
echoed the words of one of Safari Club’s most famous members claiming in both
conviction and irony, “We will prevail”!
PROFESSOR
MIDNIGHT – Fiction… It’s “Harry Potter” for grown ups!
A
swiftly paced saga spanning the Spanish Inquisition to the dawn of the Aquarian
Age, Professor Midnight is a haunting blend of ancient legend and
modern witchcraft woven into a hauntingly unforgettable tale. Born with
innate magical powers that terrify his mother, Vincent receives no love and
hence turns inward to develop his abilities and set a plan in motion to protect
the wildlife he loves from mankind's wanton destruction. A hereditary
coven of Witches is designated to guide Vincent on the path of Light as he uses
his powers to become the world famous illusionist Professor Midnight
in order to carry out his plan. The eternal struggle between good and
evil lives in Vincent much as it did with the inner light of Luke Skywalker
and the dark tragic passion of The Phantom of the
Opera. As Vincent’s fame reaches the attention of the President
of the United States he is invited to become the resident entertainer for White
House guests until the President's Aide decides Vincent is really the devil
incarnate. The Aide sets his own plan in motion to destroy Vincent but in
doing so summons the very dark force he sought to vanquish in this page-turning
supernatural adventure of messianic heritage.
SINS OF LIFE –
Fiction
This first
best-seller for Lynn Santer exposes the hitherto undisclosed true-life shocking
skeleton of the life insurance industry. Decades ago international law
was changed to prevent parents purchasing a life insurance policy on a child
because of the volume of infanticide (child murders) committed during times of
depression to reap financial gain. In this close-to-the-bone fictional
thriller, Lynn explores the rise to fame and fortune of a life insurance
salesman who helped perpetuate the sales of these policies. Now a
respected member of the community and worshipped by his son, Nick Abbott’s sins
come back to haunt him when the source of his success is revealed in the
guilt-ridden confession of a dying man. Eager to keep skeletons of the
past buried, the insurance industry closes ranks around Nick, while his son,
James, and a woman both father and son would possess, Sandra, join forces to
beat the master at his own game, a game in which life is measured in dollar
terms… massive dollar terms. In Wall Street the dream had a
price… this time the stakes are higher!
INTO THE FIRE,
Sins of Life, Part Two – Fiction
Drawing
on her own experiences in the world of high-finance, Lynn continues this
trilogy ten years after the original stage was set in Sins of Life.
When James learns governments are facing a multi-billion dollar financial
crisis, the son of murderous Nick Abbott immediately sees an opportunity, but
to capitalize on it he needs the expertise of his lover, Sandra. Although
their relationship is rocky, James convinces Sandra to leave her home in
Australia and move to London where she becomes a specialist consultant in the
intoxicating setting of London’s Parliament. Sandra’s rising profile
brings her into direct conflict with the bitter and ambitious, Andre Nicholas.
Determined to claim everything Sandra achieves for his own glory, Andre
manages to implicate James in a plan to destroy Sandra’s career and drives away
Sandra’s closest friend, the beautiful but mysteriously tormented Gretta.
Sandra’s only other ally, William Grantley, wants to help but with a knighthood
on offer and his own secrets to keep, William must consider his options
carefully. From the Australian beaches to the corridors of power in
Westminster and the steamy passion of the African bush Into the Fire is
full of twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last
page.
EVIL BY
DESIGN, Sins of Life, The Final Chapter – Fiction
Inspired
by a real-life accident that saw Lynn receive faxes from a giant Swiss bank
concerning hundreds of millions of pounds worth of funds transferred from
Zurich to Lisbon, and news reports at the time of the World Court investigating
claims regarding looted Nazi gold deposits in Switzerland, the final chapter in
the Sins of Life trilogy sees Sandra and James reconcile in an
attempt to find Sandra’s missing friend, Gretta. Following a trail of
money from Zurich to Lisbon they inadvertently discover a plan to commit
genocide by stealth. Gretta’s estranged husband, Heinrich, is running
Reager Laboratories with the Nazi’s looted billions. On the surface it
all seems perfectly legitimate, with an effective façade of researching genetic
engineering of food crops. But below the main facility Heinrich has been
conducting terrifying experiments. Finding themselves embroiled with
Mossad, secret societies and global politics, Sandra and James are thrown into
the middle of a conspiracy that could change the balance of power in the
world. The consequences of Heinrich’s research are so chilling, and so
entirely possible, that the final revelation will leave you gasping for breath
asking yourself, “Could it really happen?” Could it?
BEYOND THE
DARKNESS – Fiction (Ghosted for Neville Santer)
Two tales
of triumph against the darker side of the human spirit. These two
novellas comprise the inside knowledge of Lynn’s late father, a pharmaceutical
chemist involved for much of his career in medical research, and Lynn’s own
research into the tragedy behind a high-profile internationally contested yacht
race. In Novella One, The Meek Shall Inherit, when a
scientist discovers a simple cure for man’s ills it is released to the market
without the knowledge of a serious side effect: it removes all aggression.
As the world’s population hungrily consumes the panacea of the new age for
prevention as well as cure, wars end and crime disappears, but the drug is not
available to tribes in the Amazon rainforest that has been abused for modern
advancement. Now the races once downtrodden and exploited decide it’s
payback time. In Novella Two, Race, rookie hotshot
yachtsman, Mike Ryman, is invited by surrogate father, Richard, to crew in a
race known as “the sailing Everest”. They know the forecast is bad, but
no one expected bad weather to become freak cyclonic conditions, forcing the
crew on Ryman’s yacht into two separate life rafts fighting for survival as
they become separated in the storm.
WAITING FOR
SPIRIT TO TELL ME – Non-fiction (Ghosted for Monica Ward)
The
hair-raising story of the woman with no hair. English clairvoyant and
psychic medium, Monica Hamers-Ward, has had the A-Z of supernatural,
metaphysical and paranormal experiences. Her story will make your hair
stand on end… it caused hers to fall out! Flamboyantly extrovert, and
indomitably optimistic, Monica’s life story takes readers on a spiritual
journey further than any has ever gone before. This big-hearted woman,
who founded a haven for street kids, and whose healing journey covers a path
into remove regions of the Philippines and Brazil, will amaze you with
documented accounts of astonishingly accurate predictions and close encounters
of the paranormal kind. Monica argues that in our fast-paced,
high-pressure, results-orientated world we have lost touch with ancient truth
and wisdom as bigotry and intolerance pervade our world. She calls her
experiences humbling and grounding, even when some have condemned her
extraordinary abilities as drawn from being in league with the devil.
Believing in love, Light, and a universal force greater than us all, Monica
answers questions many dare not ask including one of the greatest mysteries of
all… have you been here before?
ROLABOI,
Renegade Skater – Non-fiction (Ghosted for Jayson Sutcliffe)
From finding
a pair of rusty roller skates in a garage, Jayson Sutcliffe went on to become
three time world champion in his sport, overcoming trial and hardship, bias and
abuse, and the untimely death of his beloved brother. Jayson was the
first artistic roller skater from Australia to win an individual medal at a
world championship and went on to make history by becoming the first skater
ever to win a world title on both roller and inline skates for figure
skating. Although previously the sport had not been recognized for
inclusion as a mainstream activity by global bodies such as the Olympics,
Australian actress, Melissa George, co-star of the hit US TV series Alias,
and close friend of Sutcliffe’s, is now producing a documentary on roller
figure skating that they hope will lift the profile of the sport.
Confrontingly honest, Jayson’s life story allows an insight into the
world of a world champion, sharing a journey of growth through life, love,
sport and sexuality of a man with conviction who dared to dream.
WHIRLY GIRL,
530 – Non-fiction (Ghosted for Rosemarie McRae)
From the
first time she saw a Fokker Friendship land in a remote outback town of
northern Australia, Captain Rosemarie McRae, President of the Helicopter
Association of Australia, knew she was going to be a pilot. Her story reads somewhere between Indiana
Jones and Amelia Earhart as Rosemarie documents her life in remote
regions where she had to share her bed with cockroaches and rats, her
backbreaking journey across thousands of miles with her two young daughters,
and her flights with movie stars, gold prospectors and even the Aga Khan. She’s fought against discrimination, abuse,
dust storms and cyclones to become one of the most respected pilots in history
having won several awards for heroism in high-risk rescue operations. She is a member of the professional
international body of lady helicopter pilots known as “The Whirly Girls”, and
her membership number is 530. Her
autobiography is eye-opening and startling covering triumphs and tragedies ranging
from the horror of miscarrying her third child alone, in a shower, in isolated
outback Australia, being cut off from the outside world during a rainy season
in the tropics with stink beetles eating her only meat supply, and finally
overcoming it all to see her childhood goal take flight.
THE MAGICAL
SCARECROWS – Children’s fiction
This book represents the
first piece of literature penned by Lynn Santer at the ripe age of nine years
old. Lynn sent her stories to a
publisher, with stamps given to her by her grandmother, and received a reply
that she keeps to this day saying her style was good but the content not long
enough; she should perhaps write again when she was older. Twenty years later Lynn took that advice and
penned her first best-seller, Sins of
Life (above). In the meantime
she didn’t turn her hand to writing children’s stories until her sister fell
pregnant with her first child. Only then
did The Magical Scarecrows surface
again as a children’s adventure series where two scarecrows (one in England and
one in Australia) come to life at night to learn environmental and historical
lessons with the wildlife who share their land, each one wondering if they are
the only one of their kind on earth. As
the stories unfold migratory birds bring messages of hope that the scarecrows
are not alone, but from opposite sides of the earth, how ever are they going to
meet?
All
available at: http://www.santersghostwriting.com/books.htm
Over a hundred and fifty
years later his words are as true, as poignant and as chilling. Are we
learning?
“What is man
without the beasts? If all the beasts
were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever
happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected ... The Earth does not belong to Man. Man belongs
to the Earth. What we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves. All things are connected ...”
From Chief
Seattle's address to the President of the United States, 1854.
May the footprints you leave behind show you walked in kindness to all
living things…
Conservation Corporation Africa, 1999
Species are
disappearing from our planet every day.
Their
silent tears could be your legacy.
Extinction
is forever….
Lynn
and Alby, 2006
