Captain Courageous is young Max’s favourite TV character, for whom – according to the theme song – nothing is too rough or too tough. Max can’t wait to get home after school and enjoy the show.
However, much to Max’s annoyance, more often than not he is waylaid by his elderly neighbour Mrs Salamanda with her growly dog Graham, wanting help with some household tasks.
This is a charming story, written by Tracey Trinder and beautifully illustrated by Mark Kilmurry, suitable for children aged 5-9years, about responsibility, friendship, looking after our neighbours, and finding true courage.
All author, illustrator, designer and publisher proceeds from the sale of Captain Courageous will be donated to the Northern Beaches Community Cancer Charity(NBCCC)which supports the Oncology and Infusion Centre at Northern Beaches Hospital, Sydney, in memory of Tracey.
Captain Courageous is published by Popcorn Press, an imprint of Fair Play Publishing, in January 2023, and will be launched at the Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli, on January 30 from 6pm.The softback book is $21.99, ISBN 978-1-925914-70-2. It can be purchased directly from the publisher at: https://www.fairplaypublishing.com.au/products/captain-courageous
Tracey Trinder, 1968 – 2021
As a talented and respected copy and script writer with over 20 years experience, Tracey worked for all the major Australian television networks on shows including McLeod’s Daughter, Home and Away, All Saints, MDA, Mirror Mirror and Always Greener. In 2019 Tracey also wrote her first play, Killing Katie: Confessions of a Book Club, which premiered at the Ensemble Theatre in Kirribilli in January 2022, to sell-out audiences and glowing reviews.
But devastatingly, at the same time the pandemic changed the world, Tracey’s world was tipped upside down by a cancer diagnosis. Determined to fight for her life, she underwent radical surgery at St George Hospital. She continued treatment over the next year at the Northern Beaches Hospital Oncology and Infusion Centre. Lockdowns and risk of infection made it difficult to see her closest friends and she was reliant on support from kind and empathetic staff, in particular her personal nurse Susie Baird, and oncologist Tristan Barnes.
All her life, Tracey was amazingly creative on so many different professional and personal projects including as a ceramic artist, and it gave her great pleasure during this difficult time to collaborate on this book with her friend Mark Kilmurry. She would be so happy to have left a legacy giving back to the hospital that gave her so much support. Tracey dedicated the book to her children Billie, Griff and Tasman, “each courageous in their own way”.
About Mark Kilmurry
Mark Kilmurry is an actor, writer and director who toured the world with The Snarling Beasties, his first theatre company based in Coventry, England, before settling in Sydney in 1996. He joined the Ensemble Theatre in Kirribilli as associate director in 2005, becoming co-artistic director in 2011 then sole artistic director in 2016. Since writing his first play, One Shot, in 1993, Mark has written more than 15 plays and film scripts, including for his 2019 feature film Being Gavin. This is the first time he has illustrated a children’s book.