The Power of Two

Description

David Foster is a big man with a big heart. He'd have to be, too, because he's won more woodchopping world championships than any man alive and he does more for charity than most of Australia's sporting heroes put together. He may not be paid as much as the Shane Warnes of the sporting world but he'd have to be this country's most successful sportsman. To date he's won almost two hundred world titles, which must be a record anywhere in the world in any sport. And he didn't get to where he is today by drinking beer and playing skittles (although he has done a fair bit of the former!). David omes from a proud Tasmanian tradition of woodchopping. His father was the late great George Foster, one of the sport's legends, and ever since David can remember he was out training with his dad. Together they won a phemomenal number of double-handed sawing world titles, a partnership they both treasured. It was George who instilled in his son the desire to be the very best and the obsession with training which helped hone David's skills almost to perfection. The bond between father and son was extraordinarily strong and in many ways David sees The Power of Two as a tribute to his adored father. With the help of cartoonist Red Edwards, David Foster recounts this woodchopping life from his very early days as a shy sixteen year-old to the days when he was a near unbeatable media star. He records all his highs and lows with honesty and humour (and some terrible jokes!) and he comes across as he is in life - a funny, unassuming, down-to-earth bloke. It's easy to be fooled by his seeming ordinariness, though, because it turns out he is a man respected by prominent people from all walks of life. There are testimonies from politicians, media personalities, sportsmen and charity organisations all testifying to the man's sporting achievements and his unstinting work for good causes, which were honoured when he was nominated as one of the seven finalists for the Australian of the Year award. Interspersed between the tales of David's woodchopping are stories from the other characters in his life - his brothers, his wife, his coach and mentor, his sporting contemporaries, and, of course, David Boon (for those of you who aren't from Tassie, the two David's made some very successful and very funny television ads for beer [what else!]) - these are all without exception insightful and extremely entertaining. It's clear from all these pieces that David'll have a laugh just about anything, including himself. This also becomes apparent in the 'Saw Points' in which David has some very funny raves about those things which really get up his nose.