Phil Aughey's book is based on his childhood growing up on a Warrawidgee farm in the 60s, shortly before mobile phones, internet, and television came to Griffith.

It was an era before Fortnite, when young people would instead entertain themselves by holding card nights and social dances at the Warrawidgee Community Hall.

"There was a real community atmosphere at Warrawidgee, but then television came and people started staying at home," Mr Aughey recalls.

He went to Griffith Public School and then to Yanco Agricultural High School, where he first ignited his passion for the theatre during a high school rendition of HMS Pinafore.

It was a first for Mr Aughey; he was never picked for school performances due to his speech impediment which caused him to stammer badly, but he found that when he was on stage the lines came easily.

"The irony is when I'm on stage I don't stammer," Mr Aughey said.

"It's because I'm not me on the stage; I'm playing someone else."

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He went on to study Communications at university in Bathurst before going on to pursue a shining career in theatre.

He's now currently the head of the Anvil Creek Theatre and the Newcastle Fringe Festival, but despite the glamour of the stage his heart still belongs to the old community hall back in Warrawidgee.

"The whole community got on very well - it was the typical farming community," he said.

He still visits occasionally; he last visit was a performance of "Chopin's Last Tour" at Griffith Regional Theatre in 2017, and he's always surprised at how much the city grows with each visit.

"Griffith is a very vibrant town. It always was, even back in those days," he said.

Those days are long gone, but he hopes that his memories of those days are recorded through the pages of his new book.

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