Granite Belt bush poet and last of the larrikins Jack Drake dies aged 74

A well-known bush poet is being remembered as a lover of the rugged country he called home and the unique history of regional Queensland.

Granite Belt bush poet Jack Drake sadly died last week. (Photo: Boolarong Press)

When one thinks of legendary folk figures telling tales of the bush, many may think of Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson, and Jack Drake was cut from the same cloth.

The 74-year-old Granite Belt local called Stanthorpe home, but many who knew him knew he preferred to spend his time in the scrub, where he knew the bush like the back of his hand.

The renowned bush poet was the last of a generation, and sadly died peacefully in his sleep last week.

Drake worked as a horseman, stockman, rodeo competitor and outback showman bush poet and was known for his real and detailed yarns of life in the bush told through verse.

Despite being born in New Zealand in 1950, Drake was Australian through and through, falling in love with the country after receiving a copy of Banjo Paterson’s poems at age 10.

Drake’s publisher Boolarong Press paid tribute to the bard, saying they were sad to share the news of his passing.

“He had a strong affinity with the Queensland bush. Having had a long lasting fascination with frontier history,” they said.

“The research for his latest book Queensland Frontier Wars had been a more than two year project involving early 19th Century writings, the work of recent researchers who sought the truth, and interviews with those Australians, white and Indigenous, who were prepared to discuss the subject.

“’It has been a labour of love and I hope I have had some small part in bringing the truth to the reading public’, said Jack.

May he rest now in peace.”

Jack Drake was known for his love of the bush. (Photo: Eukey Hall)

“Jack Drake was one of the best. He lived in Stanthorpe and was a fair dinkum bushy who couldn’t half put on a show. A retired grazier and horseman. He had a strong affinity with the Queensland bush,” Australian Rhyming Poets wrote.

“He knew the satisfaction of riding a horse he had bred and broken-in and could handle most things that life in the bush threw at him.

“He will be greatly missed by his community and those who knew him, especially his fellow poets. Travel well old mate.”

Drake was laid to rest at Stanthorpe Cemetery on Wednesday.

Originally published as Granite Belt bush poet and last of the larrikins Jack Drake dies aged 74