The extraordinary life story of Gregory Smith, a homeless man who lived as a hermit in a NSW rainforest for 10 years, has been told with the help of a local scribe.

Former Ulladulla Times columnist Craig Henderson was asked to co-write Smith’s memoir, Out Of The Forest, after the remarkable tale first came to public attention on ABC Radio.

Smith – who eventually staggered out of the North Coast forest close to death – has remade his life, earned a PhD and lectures in sociology at Southern Cross University.

“The publishers had struggled to find the right writer for the project,” Henderson said, who lives in Narrawallee, on the NSW south coast. “But when I first met Gregory we hit it right off.”

Henderson spent six months interviewing Smith and researching his life, and admits to being “blown away” as the incredible details slowly emerged.

“His existence was so chaotic, so traumatic, so beset by violence and crazy misadventure that you’d have struggled to make it up,” Henderson said.

Read the article published on June 2, 2018.