Kathleen Phelan (nee Newton) was utterly unique; a female vagabond who embraced the freedom of the tramp lifestyle and philosophy. Like the infamous women explorers of the Victorian era, she traveled before as a single woman adventuring to every place on the planet funding her travels through canny bets on horseracing. At age 26 in 1944, she met and married author and fellow tramp, Jim Phelan who introduced her to his literary circle. She tramped another 40+ years after he passed roaming from continent to continent, staying with Picasso in Spain, playing football with Pele in Brazil, and even telling her stories to the Shah of Iran. Her magnetism attracted friends all over the world with whom she corresponded and kept entertained with lively letters.

We meet Kathleen here in her never before published memoir of her travels with husband Jim and her return to the road after his passing in 1966.

Also included are personal correspondence and magazine articles written by Kathleen while on the road. Her nephew Liam Phelan, a senior journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald, writes a moving and personal introduction.

© 2021 Feral House (Ebook): 9781627311076

Release date

Ebook: January 25, 2021