‘I only met Thelma Hawks after she died. Her brother, “The Mighty Apollo” introduced us.’
Apollo and Thelma have been a constant in Jon Faine’s life for decades. As a young lawyer, he was captivated by his favourite client, the Mighty Apollo, a legendary strongman and circus star, famous for pulling trams with his teeth and having an elephant stand on him. Apollo’s sister, Thelma, on the other hand, ruthless and rugged, had survived decades running solo in one of the most remote pubs in the outback until unexpectedly dying, leaving behind a complicated estate.
Befriending Apollo and immersing himself in Thelma’s estate, Jon is forced to untangle a long line of astonishing stories and episodes in our distant and recent history that keep intersecting with his own. Via the circuitous route of these two larger-than-life characters – alongside a supporting cast of characters from the world of politics, law, literature and media – Jon reflects on their stories and is inevitably forced to rethink his own.
Jon Faine is an award-winning journalist who, until October 2019, hosted the agenda-setting morning broadcast for ABC Radio in Melbourne for more than twenty years. Prior to his broadcast career, Fain practised in commercial litigation, which is how he met Apollo.
In Apollo and Thelma Faine shares a yarn that has enthralled him for forty years, taking him from Melbourne’s depression-era slums to the isolation of the outback. Extremely well written and researched, this really is one of the most unique, interesting stories you’ll read this year.
I particularly adored Thelma. As Faine writes, “All sorts of bizarre second and third-hand accounts of Thelma’s skullduggery had been recounted over the years. Did Thelma carry a pearl-handed revolver? Had she nicked the takins from a sozzled bookie at the Top Springs picnic races?” This was a woman of legends.
Faine’s fascination and respect for the colourful siblings is evident on every page, as is the influence they both had on his life: “Although Apollo and Thelma principally taught me to be a more sensitive lawyer, caring about my clients as people and not just piles of paper, they also somewhat circuitously led me to enquire about Australia’s troubled past, our foundation myths, and my own responsibilities as a father. Apollo, the world’s strongest man, made me stronger too.”
Apollo and Thelma is a uniquely Australian story, beautifully told. It would make a fantastic film or a series. But for now, it’s a truly excellent read.
Review: Paul Anderson (Apollo’s Eldest Son)-Behalf Of Family
Sadness, deep disappointment, anger & a sickening sense of betrayal characterise the distressful way I feel towards this book & my involvement with Jon Faine.
Regrettably this book from Apollo’s & our perspective, is largely out right fictional story creation. It is full of time line errors, misquotes, incorrect claims, key figure omissions & description faults. The author vastly over exaggerates his involvement in our history & uses biased, ill informed & in several cases disrespectful opinions!
Faine despite his claims, met my father a handful of times in the early to mid 1980s. I barely remember him from this period & met him only recently before the book project, due to a radio interview. I wish to make it clear Faine is no family friend & this is evident in the handling of this book project!
The author’s very limited personal knowledge of my father is reflected in his unfounded, assessment of his personality. It is despicable to encourage a performer, pioneering innovator & proud man to share his life story’s & inner workings, then weaponise this against him in what I view as a character asasination.
Faine’s total misunderstanding of my father’s writings, concerning his positive mind body channeling, does not surprise me. It soon became apparent on discussing the subject with him, that he possessed a cynical, arrogant, close minded attitude, clearly, from a non physical man.
Thelma’s portrayal in the book is completely one sided, viewed almost wholly from a business perspective (in a man driven harsh environment) & from jealous Territorians. The family’s view & stories of a caring, loving sister, god mother & aunty were ignored, as it obviously didn’t suit Faine’s narrative.
How did this book get to this? Faine was clearly overwhelmed by material, interview information, time constraints & pressure from publishers. After 3 drafts, as promised all along, we were due to see the final draft, in his words “to tell me where I f**ked up & if there are any serious issues you wont dealt with”. Unfortunately, this did not occur & there lies the problem!
According to Faine, the publishers would only allow us to view the final draft of one chapter, due to their protective nature of the book! This was the chapter of the family as children & it was full of factual errors on first inspection. Faine, under pressure, allowed me to verbally edit another chapter. The end draft of that chapter was never viewed by the family & hardly altered upon inspection of the published book.
Multiple chapters relating to the family were blocked from viewing. It is obvious “That was a take”, in their eyes. Faine & the publishers constructed the Tall Tale they wanted, at the expense of portraying a true account as we were promised. There was no consideration of the feelings or impact to us as a family! Seems assurements & pledges went out the window in the final creation of this book.
As a result, in the end, this is NOT a story our family is proud to be associated with, as Faine claimed we would be. Arrogance, creating a fictional story to prop up the author’s ego, has destroyed what could have been a great book, if the true story was at least told.
This book reads as a mishmash of chapters, even the black & white photos protest their existence in the book, attempting to absorb into the pages & hide in darkness. Such a shame & a huge violation of a family’s legacy, trust, faith & energy!
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