Brian Medlin (1927-2004) - philosopher, activist, socialist, bushman, environmentalist, poet and author of short stories - wrote much more than he published during his lifetime. This collection includes five of his essays, dealing with how to stay sane and constructive in the face of environmental crisis, with the nature of philosophy and the contemporary university, and with the very meaning of life and death. They are as relevant and urgent now as when he wrote them 30 years ago. The essays are complemented by a selection of his poetry and by four of the short stories he wrote under the pseudonym Timothy Tregonning, only two of which have been previously published. Set in the early 20th century, the stories draw us into the mixed fortunes of a working class family in South Australia's mid north. Medlin's unique voice, humane, witty and vigorous, leaps off every page.