About Gerard Dean
I guess you want to know a bit about me…. well, a long time ago – wayback in the fifties, actually, Lucky the whippet got a new mate to muck around with on the banks of the Wakool River.
Me and Lucky headed south to the Wimmera, and it went sideways from then. The odd snake made life interesting, and my so-called schoolmates made it even more interesting.
After surviving the droughts and footy and Dimboola Memorial High School, I headed west to work in the mines and on the drilling rigs, then back south to work in warships and battle tanks.
Met a gorgeous girl – we started a manufacturing company and a family, and now I crack jokes and annoy my kids and so-called mates at work.
Website: https://www.waybackaustralia.com/
Wayback
Come wayback in time to the wide Australian wheat plains. Do battle with snakes, droughts, school teachers and so-called mates in the never ending contest to impress the girls in your class at Dimboola Memorial High School.
With school out of the way, the battle ground moves to the outback mines and drilling rigs where people from a strange land – France – introduce you to new gastronomic delights such as flying fruit bats and Taipan snakes.
Then, thrill to the delights of high speed motorcycle pursuits as you are pursued by Australian cops in V8 Holden cars with flashing blue lights.
Only then, when you face the magistrate in court, does your life change…
AVAILABLE SOON AT WIMMERA LIBRARIES
Der Tiger
The Wimmera Tiger took 10 minutes to dream up and 10 years to design, build and get running. Find out why it took so long in what is really a book describing How Not To Build your own 1/5 scale Tiger tank.
From the first disastrous attempt making a full steel chassis through grenading gearboxes and shattered crankshafts to winning the gold medal at the Model Engineering Exhibition in England, Tiger 141 finally made it to the Deutsches Panzermuseum in Germany.
And along the way you might be taken down the old mulga track to Murra Wurra to get a hint of the author’s early years on an Australian wheat farm. You can’t get much better than that.
AVAILABLE SOON AT WIMMERA LIBRARIES
Wayback Book Launch
10/12/2025
Congratulations Gerard for your outstanding book launch event at the Horsham Library! You brought a smile to every person’s face with your outgoing and down-to-earth nature. Your experiences of bush life, as portrayed in Wayback, was something everyone around here can relate to. We can’t wait to read your next one!
Best wishes,
The staff at Horsham Library
