Michael Gerard Bauer
Omnibus Books 2004

At fourteen, Joseph Davidson is quiet, self-conscious and a talented artist. His world changes however, when he is asked to draw a portrait of his mysterious neighbour Tom Leyton, a Vietnam veteran who, for thirty years, has lived alone with his sister Caroline, raising his silkworms and hiding from prying eyes. He soon realises that in order to truly draw Tom Leyton, he must find the courage to unlock the man’s dark and perhaps dangerous secrets. As Joseph moves deeper and deeper into his neighbour’s world he confronts not only Tom Leyton’s private hell, but also his own relationship with his father, and ultimately, the dishevelled, lurching figure from his past.

About the author

Michael Bauer lives with his family in the beautiful Brisbane suburb of Ashgrove - the setting for The Running Man. It is the suburb in which he grew up, where he went to school, where he spent several years teaching, where he met his wife and where, only a few streets away from his present house, in what used to be a private hospital, he was born.

Michael has taught English and economics at a number of secondary schools in the Brisbane-Ipswich area. Recently he has balanced part-time teaching with his love of writing (although he still does a pretty mean impression of Bob Dylan on guitar).

In 2003 he won the inaugural Writesmall short story competition at the Brisbane Writers Festival. In 2004 his first novel for young adults The Running Man was published by Omnibus / Scholastic. It won the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year: Older Readers Award for 2005. His second novel, Don’t Call Me Ishmael which was published in 2006, has been shortlisted for the 2007 Children’s Book Awards. It is a comedy set in an all boys’ school.

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