Author Talk: Stephen Whiteside - The View from Point Lookout

In 2024 Stephen Whiteside wrote a book, ‘Snow, Fire and Gold: the story of Bill Spargo and Evelyn Piper’s life in the Australian mountains.’
It told the story of Spargo’s Hut at Golden Point near Mt. Hotham, and the people who lived in it – alpine gold prospector William Benjamin (‘Bill’) Spargo, and his English born partner (and eventual wife), Evelyn Maud Piper. The book ended with their separation, the sale of the Red Robin Mine, and Evelyn’s return to England. Shortly after this, Bill sold his hut at Golden Point and left the blazing summers and freezing winters of the Victorian Alps for the subtropical climate of Point Lookout at North Stradbroke Island in Queensland.

This latest book attempts to answer two questions. What happened to Bill once he retired to Queensland and what happened at, and to, the hut at Golden Point after his departure?