On Listening: Penguin Special

Description

If you're quiet enough, quiet as a tree, people will camp beneath your branches and tell you stories you would never otherwise hear. Martin Flanagan shares how listening has been an essential part of his life from when he started hitchhiking at fourteen through to writing a book about Aboriginal footballer and activist Michael Long.

Martin Flanagan writes for the Age newspaper and is the author of twelve books, among them "The Call", an imaginative re-construction of the life of Tom Wills, a founder of the game, and "The Last Quarter", a trilogy of his football books. What people have said about Martin Flanagan's football writing- -"Martin Flanagan must never be allowed to stop writing football. I say this because he is the only football writer I have read who is so good I think he could nearly describe a heartbeat - and that, if you want to touch the essence of football, is what you have to do" - Don Watson"If I'm ever prompted, I have no hesitation in nominating Martin Flanagan as my favorite writeraI only hope I can see the game off the field as well as he does" - Nathan Buckley"I like Martin's writing, and I know most players do too, because he comes from a different perspective" - James Hird"The best of Flanagan has a finesse and feeling that no current Australian sports-writer approaches, let alone equals" - Gideon Haigh"I love his brain" - Kevin Sheedy