Jim Bradly’s Coral Sea trek in the footsteps of Ion Idriess
Like many Australians above a certain age, Jim Bradly was enchanted by the works of author Ion Idriess. In particular, Jim was captivated by the great storyteller's depiction of the lost civilisation of the Torres Strait islands in his father's copy of Idriess's 1933 book, Drums of Mer. I recently re-read that book as a precursor to writing this post, and I can readily understand Jim's enthusiasm. Idriess was a master of "faction", who built racy yarns on foundations of fact drawn from his extensive travels and his limitless curiosity. In Drums of Mer he imagines…
