Title: Missing
Author: Tom Patterson
Publisher: Allen & Unwin, January 2022; RRP: $32.99
Missing is the first book for Tom Patterson, who grew up in the New England region of New South Wales. A hiker himself, he spent time in the gorge country, but he never saw or met Mark May, the man whose true story he tells with compassion and insight.
The author pays tribute to the May family, especially Peter May, Mark’s brother who provided Tom with documents, photos, and details of Mark’s life. Peter even spent time with Tom in the Gorge where Mark lived for thirty-five years.
Born into a Catholic family in the fifties, Mark was the second of seven boys. They lived in Armidale before moving to a fifty-acre property called Bynalong, just outside of town. Their father, Phil, along with the boys established the property from scratch. Mark was never a willing participator and avoided his father. Mark and his brothers became familiar with the rugged terrain and often camped out, becoming accustomed to the tough conditions.
Mark’s rebellion started early, and his school days were marked with difficult encounters. He was an unsettled student but bright. Drugs and drink became problematic until Mark decided to put things right. It didn’t last long. He and two of his brothers went away to boarding school where Mark’s problems surfaced but he managed to sit his Higher School Certificate. He obtained entry to Australian National University to study law but continued to heavily use drugs. Mark eventually took to the life of a hermit, only coming out of the remote gorge country to collect supplies and sometimes to have fleeting contact with family members.
In 2017, after not sighting Mark for many months, his brothers Pete and Steve with two other family members decided to search for him. Their suspicions and concerns were well-founded when they found one of Mark’s campsites and discovered his remains.
at 2GB
Tom Patterson has structured this book in a way that gives Mark’s life understanding, an understanding that we are often not privileged to see. Mark, through his letters to friends and family in the earlier years, showed his emotional state at the time, his ongoing struggle and his fine and clever mind. He had extreme reactions to the norms of society; living a life as a hermit may have been his only workable choice. It’s hard to imagine such a tormented mind and not want to reach out to him. But Mark was also strong. He lived for three and a half decades in survival mode in extremely rough terrain.
I recommend Missing, a sad and unique story of a man and his unconventional life.
Reviewed by: Heather Whitford Roche, February 2022
Ballarat Writers Book Review Group
Review copy provided by the publisher
Leave a Reply