Wilson McOrist was born in Melbourne and started writing after retiring.  He attended Melbourne University, completed two years National Service as a Second Lieutenant, worked as a physicist and owned and operated successful businesses with his ife in Australia and internationlly.  With a fascination in Shackleton and the exploits of other explorers, he wrote the book  "Shackleton's Heroes'' which was published in 2015 and reprinted in 2018.   The idea for his latest book about Richard Richards came from his extensive research and a discussion with Philip Adams on ABC when interviewing him regarding "Shackleton's Heroes."