What makes a man turn his back on society?
What makes him return?

For ten years a man calling himself Will Power lived in near-total isolation in northern New South Wales, foraging for food, eating bats and occasionally trading for produce.

But who was this mysterious man who roamed the forest and knew all of its secrets and riddles? Some people thought he might be Jesus. Others feared he was a more sinister figure. The truth was that he was neither miraculous nor malevolent, but he was, most certainly, gifted. And when he finally emerged from the forest, emaciated and close to death, he was determined to reclaim his real name and ‘give society another chance’.

Today, Dr Gregory Peel Smith, who left school at the age of fourteen, has a PhD and teaches in the Social Sciences at university. His profoundly touching and uplifting memoir is at once a unique insight into how far off track a life can go and powerful reminder that we can all find our way back if we pause for a moment in the heart of the forest.

This book is an incredible true story of overcoming childhood and institutional abuse with beautifully written even with the harshest of events. Ultimately uplifting as Gregory begins the higher study which eventually gives both his life and the lives of many others direction and meaning, while still living on the streets.

 

Gregory Peel Smith was homeless for much of his adult life. He now has a PhD in Sociology and teaches at Southern Cross University. Gregory is very particular about his name – he is Gregory, not Greg – as at one point that was all he owned.

Craig Henderson has worked as a journalist and editor at Australian newspapers, magazines and online since 1987. Today the father of three lives on the New South Wales South Coast with his wife, Lizzie.