Autobiography

By all accounts Steve Fairbairn was an individualist and although well known for his rowing and coaching there was a lot more to his life. This part of the four-volume Fairbairn On Rowing is his autobiography - well, strictly, it’s a well-edited version of what he wrote.He wrote as he spoke - directly and without mincing words. As an expert self-publicist, his writings may seem pompous to today’s reader, but the careful editing of his life story has created a very readable account of a life lived in the spirit of the pioneers from Australia and their relationships with the “Old Country” of Britain.Although much of this volume isn’t about Fairbairn’s rowing life, it helps us to understand how his peculiar character was formed and the influences which made him into the rowing technician and educator he is primarily known for. Did you know he was a top cricketer and his family ran large sheep farms in the Australian interior?Read on and learn how Fairbairn the man was moulded by his life experiences.