Albany English teacher shares how ‘Midds’ inspired his debut book Cold Light

No matter what seasons Albany decides to deliver in one day, long-standing English teacher Peter Ruscoe starts most of his mornings drawing energy and inspiration from “Midds”. As a self-described “swim through the whole winter kind of guy” with a strong love for his local beach, the now published author has released his first book titled Cold Light. It’s a fitting name for a man who loves to swim in the Southern Ocean in the early morning light at Middleton Beach. “I grab a coffee, get on my bike, go for ride and it’s that combination of caffeine and exercise where I get the what-abouts, what-ifs,” he said. Cold Light, a series of nine short stories, culminated over several years from those ideas he has later “jotted down at home”. Ruscoe said the foundation of the book was based on the traumatic events in which 37-year-old teacher Jason Cull was mauled by a shark at Middleton Beach in 2008. On May 10, Mr Cull was hauled 80m to shore by rescuer Joanne Lucas after he had been dragged under the water by a shark. “It was inspired originally from personally witnessing the aftermath of the shark attack a number of years ago,” he said. “The idea of seeing a shark and imagining what it would be like ... it got me thinking what lurks underneath, what’s beneath the surface with people and characters, what are their hopes and fears.” With Middleton Beach and the Albany area as the setting for the nine individual short stories, Ruscoe said the shark attack linked them by giving the characters a “metaphor to look for”. “I would have been swimming (that day), but my daughter asked me to go fishing. We went out, came back and the beach was closed,” Ruscoe said. “It was a very dramatic event in Albany’s very safe history in Ellen Cove.” The title is linked to the 2008 attack, Ruscoe said. “I love the lifestyle here and the opportunity to explore the rugged wildernesses and coastline, so much that I stayed,” he said. “I love it here, I’ll probably stay here until I retire,” he said. A teacher for 35 years, Ruscoe has been an English teacher at Albany Senior High School for 27 years. His journey of becoming a life-long teacher stemmed from his days as a Year 12 student when he was inspired by a mentor. Despite being “a bit of a ratbag student” at Greenwood Senior High School, he excelled at English. Ruscoe is fascinated by language, and as he puts it, “understanding the subtle nuances of words and how they change the way we see things”. The themes in Cold Light range from revenge to romance to fun, with a story titled Infinity the “most powerful, intense” of the collection. “They are quirky stories, a bit unusual in terms of the characters and what happens to them,” he said. In another quirky approach, Ruscoe’s book has an interactive element in which he has provided the geographical co-ordinates for the location of each story. Ruscoe said he hoped it would give readers a chance to explore Albany by “keeping it real” with a fictionalised twist. The teacher’s 22-year-old son Lachie Ruscoe, who is studying graphic design in Perth, has illustrated the book. “The whole project we’ve done together, it’s a really wonderful thing to do with your own boy,” Ruscoe said. “As a full-time teacher, I found it so hard to get the book to fruition, so it’s taken a number of years.” Cold Light is available at Paperbark Merchants, Kate’s Place and Bay Merchants. It can also be bought on Amazon as an eBook. “I hope it brings the enjoyment of reading and captures the child in everyone,” Ruscoe said.

Albany English teacher shares how ‘Midds’ inspired his debut book Cold Light

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