Local author to share his story at Wangaratta Library

Published on 09 April 2026

Wangaratta Library will host the launch of Jim’s Story: Volume 1 – the first eighty years, the memoir of local resident Jim McKean.

Born in Melbourne in 1939, Jim was educated at Melbourne Grammar and later completed a Diploma of Agriculture at Longerenong Agricultural College. He began his career in cereal research before spending four years in Papua New Guinea in the early 1960s as an agricultural extension officer, where he also gained his Private Pilot’s Licence.

After returning to Australia, Jim worked as a crop sprayer in the Wimmera and Mallee, then studied geology at the University of New England. This led to three years as an exploration geologist in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

Following his marriage in 1972, Jim returned to Melbourne, started a family and pursued a career teaching science in the Technical School system. He moved to Wangaratta in 1977 and has lived in the region ever since.

Although ill health led to early retirement, Jim has remained actively involved in a wide range of pursuits, including volunteering in aged care, travelling, ecclesiastical embroidery and other textile arts, singing, writing humorous lyrics, and, most recently, memoir writing.

When: Saturday 11 April, 10.00am
Where: Wangaratta Library, 21 Docker St

Bookings are essential. Book online or contact Library staff
https://events.humanitix.com/host/wangaratta-library
03 5721 2366, library@wangaratta.vic.gov.au