Michael Reid has more than 200,000 stories. He saved most of them from the tip — or worse.
The 62-year-old has made it his mission to rescue books that would otherwise be destroyed.
As word of Mr Reid's mission has spread, more and more novels, textbooks, true tales and comics have found sanctuary with "The book man who saves books from landfill".
Mr Reid's personal story took a sharp turn when he was confronted with his own mortality.
"Just prior to when I moved to Bendigo, I had a heart attack and cancer, and I survived both," he explained.
"This 'book mission' is my second-life mission."
He said inspiration struck during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"During COVID times, people just couldn't get things — including books — to op shops and stuff like that," Mr Reid said.
"I decided to save them and have little garage sales to help with medical costs for my two disabled sons.
"Eventually, I heard about a bookshop in Castlemaine closing down. I heard all the books would end up at the tip, and I thought, I can't let that happen.
"I rang the owner and told her I'd save them. She said, 'yes, please do'.
"Then after 10 ute loads worth of books, I brought them home. Then came an estate with a lot of books, and I saved them too."
Books have been collected across Victoria. Wherever possible, Mr Reid passes them on to other people. Sometimes they are gifts, sometimes he has one-dollar sales just to help cover costs.
Others are stored at his Bendigo home until he finds them a good home.
He believes the number rescued would be well over 200,000 books.
"Some are unsavable but generally, I've become a last resort before landfill for people who have no other option for getting rid of books," Mr Reid explained.
"I pick them up from op shops, estates, or people downsizing. I just enjoy collecting them. It gives me something to do."
Mr Reid's affection for books goes back a long way. He saves them because, in a very real sense, books saved him.
Reading was an escape from what he describes as a horrific childhood.
"I grew up as a ward-of-the-state in a government 'cottage home'," he explained.
"My whole childhood was under their care until I left at 17 years of age. A lot of horrible stuff happened but I can't talk about it without depressing myself.
"I went through the usual path of being abused, alcohol, living on couches, and even living on the streets until I was 22 years old.
"I was also bullied by teachers and other kids at school, and the library was my refuge.
"That is where I discovered books of all kinds, especially the interesting intelligent ones."
Mr Reid's own story would make quite a good book.
After leaving Melbourne, books took a back seat as Mr Reid made a new life in Mildura, working within the grape industry: picking fruit, pruning vines, driving tractors, and packing sheds.
He even worked up the courage to play football and cricket for the first time as an adult, becoming a stalwart at the Merbein and South Mildura football clubs. He played his last games as a 60-year-old.
Other jobs included labouring, working in a travelling show's sideshow alley, and helping to restore an old pub and a truck stop.
Exciting, yes, but It has not been a trouble-free story.
Health challenges have included a crushed spine from a workplace incident, what Mr Reid describes as a "widow-maker" heart attack, colon cancer (and an operation just months after the heart attack) as well as a paralysis tick bite.
His wife Kathy has also had multiple challenges and his two sons have complex health issues, including scoliosis, autism and Asperger's syndrome.
"I have been bashed, arrested, lost, been up on stage, partied with bikers and police, met celebrities, went back to school as an adult. It would make a good book," Mr Reid said.
"I write a lot of poetry of all titles including about my past, which generally ends on a positive note even though it is, at times, a horror story."
As for the books themselves, Mr Reid said represented much more than a few hundred pages held together by a bit of card. Depending on what type of book, they are a physical manifestation of imagination, or story, or knowledge, or wisdom.
Giving someone a book is like passing all of that along to another person.
"I love that people can go into their own dream world. They don't need computers," he said.
"I remember this one fellow — about 14 or 15 — who was at one of my dollar sales. He saw a box of books I had sitting on the table that were 1970s books with no dust jacket on them. They were all Cluedo type, Agatha Christie-type stories.
"He said he loved that sort of thing, so I said take the whole box for free. He just stood there for five minutes with his hands on his head just going, 'wow'. The bonus: There wasn't a description of what each book was all about because the dust jackets were gone.
"So, all those crime and mystery books were going to be a mystery from the first word."
Book man's best reads
Mr Reid is generally into non-fiction, brain food, trivia and what tickles his fancy at the time. He also like comics and graphic novels in addition to these classics.
As for favourites? There are too many to mention, but stand stand out:
- Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Brabury) – "A dystopian novel where books are burned. The temperature the books are burned at is 451 degrees Fahrenheit."
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey) – "I think I can relate to that as I was zapped like [protagonist Randle] McMurphy at the Alfred Hospital in my junior years."
- They're a Weird Mob and its sequels (John O'Grady) – "I liked the Australian author Nino Cullotta. Of course, 'Nino Cullotta' was John O'Grady's pseudonym."