Profile of Australian author Craig McGregor
Originally published March 2016, northerly

In Craig McGregor’s open-plan living area at his home in Byron Bay, a very fine Maton guitar sits upright in its stand. There is a piece of paper stuck to it, on which are written the names of a dozen or so old folk songs. He was quite the protest singer in his time, performing anti-nuclear songs at demonstrations and proving himself a deft finger-picker.

Even if he doesn’t pick up the guitar regularly today, it’s still an appropriate ornament: now aged 82, McGregor has about him something of the air of the late American folk singer Pete Seeger. It’s the soft voice, the neat grey beard and a general and unwavering benevolence of spirit summed up by his frequent exclamation of “Very good!” when discussing things he approves of, like music (his beloved Bob Dylan in particular), poetry, travel, painting, the Australian landscape and his friends and family.

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