What happens when a filmmaker spends 20 years chasing one of the greatest aviation mysteries in history?
In this episode of Plot Twist Radio, Erin sits down with filmmaker and author Damien Lay to explore the extraordinary true story behind his debut novel Of Air and Men. From his early days working in the film industry to directing documentaries and transitioning into novel writing, Damien shares how storytelling evolves across mediums and why some stories refuse to let go.
At the heart of this conversation is the mysterious 1935 disappearance of legendary aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith; once one of the most famous men in the world, comparable to Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh. Damien takes us behind the scenes of his 20-year investigation, including 18 expeditions to Myanmar, the recovery of aircraft wreckage, and the emotional journey of working alongside the families impacted by this enduring mystery.
We also dive into:
The key differences between screenwriting and novel writing
How to balance historical accuracy with compelling storytelling
The emotional weight of telling real stories rooted in loss and legacy
Theories and misconceptions surrounding the Kingsford Smith disappearance
Damien’s next project exploring the legendary lost Dhammazedi Bell
If you love historical mysteries, aviation history, filmmaking, or powerful human stories, this episode is for you.
🎙️ Listen now and discover the story behind the story.
#DamienLey #AviationHistory #CharlesKingsfordSmith #HistoricalMystery #Filmmaking #AuthorInterview #PlotTwistRadio #WritingCommunity #HistoryPodcast #TrueStory
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Welcome to Plot Twist Radio, the show where creativity,
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storytelling, and the unpredictable path of the
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creative life all collide. I'm your host, Aaron Egnatz.
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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Plot Twist Radio, where we
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dive into the stories behind the storytellers.
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Today's episode is something truly special.
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My guest, Damien Leigh, is a filmmaker turned author whose
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career spans decades in the film industry, from sweeping studio
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floors at just 12 years old to directing documentaries and
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feature films. But what makes Damien's journey
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extraordinary isn't just his path through Hollywood.
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It's the story he spent over 20 years chasing In his debut novel
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of Aaron Men. Damien brings life 1 of
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aviation's greatest unsolved mysteries, the disappearance of
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Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, blending historical fact with
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deeply human storytelling. This isn't just a story about a
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crash. It's about a legacy, loss, and
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the relentless pursuit of truth. In this conversation, we explore
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the differences between screen writing and novel writing, the
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emotional weight of telling real stories, and what it means to
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dedicate decades of your life to solving a mystery that still
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echoes throughout history. So whether you're a lover of
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film history or powerful storytelling, you're going to
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want to stay with us for this one.
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Hello. Damien and welcome to the show.
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Can you tell the audience a little?
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Bit about yourself. Aaron, thank you so much for
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having me. I am a filmmaker.
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I've worked in the film industry my entire career since I was
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about 12 years of age, to be honest.
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So I started sweeping studio floors and I've worked my way up
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through the film industry to directing documentaries, feature
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films, all manner of film work and I've now found myself as a
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first time author. Wow, very cool.
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So I have to say, I, I am so interested in filmmaking.
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I don't know anything about it, but I am so amazed by it because
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it's it's such a different kind of writing.
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What is the writing as a filmmaker like?
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As like a screenwriter versus writing a novel?
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Is it similar? Is it different?
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It's 2 completely different worlds, probably 2 completely
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different universes. So you know, screen writing is a
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very challenging process. And by that I mean you're very
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confined to certain amount of pages.
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Your typical screenplay is 95 to, you know, 110 pages, 125 if
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you're really pushing it. But then you're looking at like
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an epic type film, whereas novel writing is endless.
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So it's an open time frame. You're not constrained by page
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numbers or word counts and things like that.
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So they're two very, very different ways of writing.
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And it took me, this book took three years to write, and I
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think the largest portion of that three years to write this
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novel was learning how to write in novel format.
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And it was a really amazing experience.
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And I can't honestly sit here and tell you which one's worse,
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because I genuinely think that they're both very, very
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difficult processes in their own individual right.
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And now having written a novel, I'd probably say screen
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writing's a lot easier. But then you go and write
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another screenplay and you go, Nah, actually novel writing's
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away. So.
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But the reality is they are both very, very difficult and
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challenging and different, so different.
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And so it was hard for me as a screenwriter to unlock my brain
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from that screen writing process and try and step into the novel
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writing world. Interestingly, the book, the
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feedback that I get from the book is people still kind of say
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that the novel reads like a film.
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And so I don't think I've completely shaken off my writing
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styles, even though I've jumped into novels, but it is my style.
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So, you know, I'm, I'm very happy with it.
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I I there was a struggle, but I pretty proud of what I've done.
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Absolutely, and you should be for sure.
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So I've noticed that you tend to like history, you do
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documentaries and whatnot. What draws you to that?
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History has been history and art.
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Both of those have been such a big part of my life from the
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earliest days that I can remember.
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Both my parents were commercial artists, or what you would call
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a graphic artist to these days or a designer now, I guess.
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So I grew up in a very artistic environment.
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So from my earliest days, everything was about art and
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creating artistically. But fortunately, you know, I
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really came from my father. He was such a history buff, one
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of those kind of guys that would read, you know, two or three or
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four books a week and retain the knowledge.
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And so growing up was weekends were museums and art galleries.
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And when we were fortunate enough to travel when we were
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young, that was battlefields in Europe and Pearl Harbour in
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America and these kind of places.
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And as a young boy, you're not all too happy to be dragged
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around museums and art galleries and things like that.
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But when I lost my father, and I was quite young then, but as I
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grew up, I started to appreciate everything that they were
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showing us and where they were taking us and kind of, I guess
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found a, a connection back to my father through history and art.
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And, and that's really where it's sort of developed from.
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So I started taking a greater interest in history.
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And for me personally, I'm very attracted to true stories,
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historical stories, certainly stories with a mystery attached
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to them and genuinely what I'm drawn to, but I'm also drawn to
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very artistic stories. So, so there's some differences
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there. But when I when I'm looking at
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projects, there's certain things that just make you feel a
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certain way and you know you gravitate to those.
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Yes, I'm the exact same way and that that's awesome that you say
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that because as a kid, my parents, especially my dad, he's
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the one that drove my history love as well.
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We would go to the Civil War battlefields that are big thing
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here in the US And yeah, as the kid, I was like, I don't want to
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do that. You know, this is, can we go to
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like a theme park or something? But no, we went to Battlefield.
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And like you said, I didn't appreciate it as a kid.
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But as I got older, I realized how much I enjoyed it so much so
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it became my career. So I guess our dads knew what
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they were doing. Well, you know, yeah, I think
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your parents in general play such a formative role in shaping
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your future, whether you know it at the time or not.
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And I think that's certainly what happened in my case.
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Yeah, for sure. So Charles Kingsford Smith, when
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you first heard his name, what was your first thought about
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him? Well, you know, I studied
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Charles Kingsford Smith when I was a very young boy in in
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primary school. I'm not sure what that is in
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America, but you know, when you're, you know, you're only,
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you know, 8-8 years old, you know, Charles Kingsford Smith.
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Sir Charles Kingsford Smith is one of our great national
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figures, no different to Amelia Earhart or Charles Lindbergh for
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Americans. And Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
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is certainly of that I'll go stature.
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And so he was on our $20 bill in Australia growing up.
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He's now on our on our $1.00 coin.
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So an enormous figure e-mail Australian history, but not only
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Australian history, internationally, in America and
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all around the world at at his peak in the night, late 1920s
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and 1930s, he was probably the most famous man alive at that
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time. So the first man to
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circumnavigate the blown by air of the first man to fly the
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Pacific from America to Australia and Australia to
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America in both direction. He holds more records for flight
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than any other man or woman alive even today.
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So such was his fame in America, he he was absolutely
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instrumental in pioneering aviation.
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He stayed at the White House. He had ticket type parades in
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New York. Both Amelia Earhart and Charles
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Lindbergh publicly acknowledged him as the greatest long
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distance flyer of all time. So an extraordinary figure in
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aviation history for the world, but also an extraordinary figure
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in history as well. So, So my interest in him was
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well known to me as I grew up with him as a hero, as people in
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America do with their heart. And Lindbergh, what was
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surprising to me was his disappearance and the mystery
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surrounding them. I think that's what really drew
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me to the Charles Kingsford Smith stories.
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He's. Fascinating.
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I first heard about him. I was an adult when I first
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heard about him. I was actually visiting Amelia
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Earhart's office at Purdue University.
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I live not far from Purdue University, and there's still an
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office for her. And there's all these plaques.
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And I saw his name and I, I didn't even know that, you know,
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there was another famous one that disappeared.
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But that was the first time I noticed or I learned anything
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about him. And when I saw your name and
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what you were doing, I was fascinated that there's a story
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about aviation. I've always been drawn to it.
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I don't know why I'm flying tomorrow.
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Let's not curse myself, but but I found it very fascinating that
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there was still her name was tied to him, but I didn't know
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the connection. So that is very interesting as
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far as the title goes of. Air and men.
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Where did that come from? It really it came really from
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aviation takes place in the air. The mystery surrounding Sir
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Charles Kingsford Smith and his disappearance for your
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listeners, is that he he crashed into the ocean off the coast of
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Myanmar, then Burma back in 1935, such being one of the
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oldest and greatest aviation mysteries in history.
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But being in the ocean, the work that we did over the last 20
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years to locate and recover wreckage and remains from the
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aircraft that he disappeared in with his copilot Tommy
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Petterbridge. And the aircraft was the Lady
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Southern Cross, which was an American aircraft and one of the
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best aircraft in the world at the time like this was the
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Ferrari, the Bugatti, the Formula One race car of the
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skies in the 1930s. So it was a phenomenal aircraft
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built by Lockheed Martin in America with Sir Charles
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Kingsford Smith. But the the location of the
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aircraft in the ocean, in the Gulf of Martaban being being in
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in the water, all of the work that we had to do was extensive
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diving operations off the coast there in probably the worst
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diving conditions you could ever experience in the world.
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So the the title really derives from that.
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We all need air to survive. And even though it mentions men
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in the title, it's predominantly surrounding a lot of male
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characters fundamentally. And I struggled with that for
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quite a while because the the novel itself is really a novel
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that can be appreciated by males, females, younger
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generations, older generations, regardless of their interest in
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Sir Charles Kingsford Smith or aviation.
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Because fundamentally the book is about the relationships of
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everyone involved at the time in the 90s and the impact that that
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history has had on the people closely associated with it in
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the present time today. But it, it is really a story of
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love and loss and their relationships.
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And, and certainly for Charles Kingsford Smith, junior, he's
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not a junior, but we'll call him a junior and refer to him.
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The son of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith is 90, just a 93 this
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year. So he was just shy of his third
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birthday when his father disappeared.
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So the impact on him personally that this history has had over
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the last 90 years has been quite extraordinary.
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So. And the book explores all of
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these concepts. And Charles Kingsford Smith's
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wife, Mary Kingsford Smith, who was left behind.
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Tommy Petherbridge was only married for a month when he
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disappeared, so he left his wife behind.
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So the book itself really explores all of those
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relationships of the impact of the disappearance of the mystery
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itself. And it does it both in in in the
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past, in history and in the present day today.
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So it really is a book for everyone.
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And you know, just, you know, you could look at it as an
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adventure story of the solving of a mystery, but but also how
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all of these relationships were impacted.
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So it really is a book for everyone.
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And I'm, I'm quite proud about that as.
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Far as the writing goes, how did you balance historical accuracy
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with a storytelling momentum to keep it going?
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So I've worked on the project for 20 years.
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So I started the project in 2005 and all of our Expeditionary
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work to solve the mystery and try and uncover what happened to
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these men and write that unwritten chapter in their story
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through that process. The amount of research and the
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volume of research that you go through in order to write the
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story and put that together is really exhausting, Very, very
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exhausting. So the historical accuracy
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within the book, I would say is about 9899% accurate in terms of
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the events that happened. And I have fantastic researchers
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and people who are literally tasked with find where I'm
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wrong, find where I've made a mistake before somebody else
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does, because we don't, we don't want that situation to occur.
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I've written the book in historical fiction format.
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So even though the events of the time extremely accurate,
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everything in the book happened. Obviously in historical fiction,
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I've been able to craft conversations and things which
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may or may not have occurred. But those conversations and the
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words I guess that I've used in that aspect of the novel really
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come from a great understanding of knowing who these people
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were, understanding the type of person they were, the character
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they were, and really, I, I guess, appreciating them in such
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a way that I felt that I could bring them to life in this
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format. So, and I think I've done that
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quite well. And I worked very, very closely
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with both the Kingsford Smith family, the Pether Bridge
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family, and many of the other people who were historically
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attached to this story. There's 90 years of
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extraordinary research to support everything that we've
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done. So it was a good process and I
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think I've crafted this story in such a way that you if it didn't
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happen, you would believe it. Did and that's important.
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That's extremely important and it's it's sometimes hard to
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balance, but I think you landed it perfectly.
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I really do. I had a lot of time to read
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through it and I I enjoyed it. It was very captivating.
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So what was there a particular chapter or a?
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Section in the book. That kind of hit you the hardest
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while you were writing it. I think the ones ones that hit
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me the hardest and the ones that were probably the most
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challenging were the scenes between myself and Charles
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Kingsford Smith Junior, because all of that is exceptionally
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real. And so to get that right in, in
00:17:14
a way that both Charles and I felt that it honestly and
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genuinely reflected our relationship over the last 20
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years was very, very challenging for both of us.
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For both of us, not and, but, you know, in terms of the
00:17:31
historical economy, I don't think there's a a page or a
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scene that I don't love in the novel.
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Certainly when I was writing a lot of the scenes from the
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expeditions in Burma, they were tough to write because I had a
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lot of demons. So that kind of followed me
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around from the work that I've done there, you know, so having
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to go back to places that you are very affected by was was a
00:18:01
challenge. And you probably noticed in the
00:18:03
book of I deal with a lot of things in such a way where as
00:18:08
tragic or difficult as the situation is, you'll see that
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laconic kind of dry humor be brought out of those moments.
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And I think that's kind of a natural coping mechanism in a
00:18:21
way. So that was tough.
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It was tough to kind of the work that I've done over the last 20
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years has had such a huge effect on my life in many, many
00:18:31
aspects. And going back to places that
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you don't want to go back to, or places that you would rather
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just forget and move on from was a challenge and difficult to
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work through, but I'm glad I did it.
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I can. I could see where that would be
00:18:44
a huge challenge. You said that you did a lot like
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you said, you did a lot of research going into this.
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What are the biggest? Misconceptions the public has
00:18:52
about the disappearance. So since the disappearance 90
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years ago, many theories emerged based on very thin theories,
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very, very simple kind of ideas. Most of these things were kind
00:19:11
of most of the theories in the past.
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The plane just blew up and fell out of the sky.
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Charles Kingsford Smith fell asleep.
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The greatest pilot of all time couldn't have been flying.
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It must have been his copilot, Tommy Perther bridge flying
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because there's no way the greatest pilot in the world
00:19:28
could ever crash or he fell asleep.
00:19:31
And so these kind of theories emerged because nobody actually
00:19:34
had any evidence to support any kind of conclusion as to their
00:19:40
final moments. But over the 90 years, there has
00:19:44
been so much evidence accumulated which has LED from
00:19:49
theory to theory to theory. And we go back all the way to
00:19:52
1937 with Jack Hodder, who books dedicated to.
00:19:58
We did an extraordinary amount of research and developed one of
00:20:02
the most accepted theories in which they crashed into this
00:20:08
island off the coast of Burma Island.
00:20:11
And then that went on to. Ted Wickstead, who the book is
00:20:14
also dedicated to, who spent 50 years researching the
00:20:18
disappearance of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and his work as
00:20:21
an historian is phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal.
00:20:24
And so from both Jack Cotter and Ted Wickstead, the theory that
00:20:30
they crashed in a particular location developed, and then
00:20:33
that by Jack did 3 expeditions to this location and recovered
00:20:38
material from the aircraft. Ted Wickstead did 3 expeditions
00:20:43
to the island in the 1980s and put on top of Jack's work an
00:20:50
enormous amount of of detail and historical evidence which
00:20:54
supported this theory. And then when Ted passed away in
00:20:57
2001, I picked up on his work in 2005 and continued both Jack's
00:21:03
work and Ted's work and throw it on from them.
00:21:07
And then over the last 20 years, you know, we've been able to
00:21:11
bring this story to a conclusion by not only locating the
00:21:15
aircraft, but recovering an enormous amount of material from
00:21:19
the aircraft. But in that time, so it was 18
00:21:22
expeditions to Burma over that 20 year period.
00:21:25
And just for your, for your listeners, you know, when I
00:21:28
started the project in 2005, it took me 4 1/2 years to get
00:21:32
permission to conduct the first expedition to Burma.
00:21:36
Burma was completely closed off to the rest of the world back
00:21:41
then. They had up the bamboo curtain,
00:21:43
as they call it. And, and certainly for foreign
00:21:47
media outlets, no one was permitted into the country.
00:21:52
So it was the only foreign media outlet permitted into Myanmar
00:21:56
for the first expedition, which we did in 2009.
00:22:00
But the the evidence through this story and I, I guess you
00:22:04
could say Jack was looking for his friends.
00:22:07
He knew both Tommy and Charles Tingsford Smith.
00:22:11
He was an extraordinary pilot himself, aeronautical engineer
00:22:14
himself. He worked on the aircraft, the
00:22:16
Lady Southern Cross and he he literally took up a position at
00:22:21
a tin mining company in Burma in the hope that he could spend his
00:22:25
off time searching for his friends who had disappeared.
00:22:28
Ted Wickstead, I think one of probably Australia's greatest
00:22:31
aviation historians was looking for the history and that was his
00:22:35
motivation continuing on. I think when I picked up on it
00:22:39
as a, as a filmmaker and a creative, you know, I was really
00:22:43
looking for their story. And so the volume of evidence
00:22:47
that we've been able to accumulate over that 90 years
00:22:51
through Jack, Ted and myself is really quite phenomenon, really
00:22:55
phenomenal. And then to be able to kind of
00:22:57
piece together as best we can based on the evidence that's
00:23:01
been collected and write this final chapter in this story has
00:23:06
been an extraordinary experience.
00:23:09
Imagine so that That sounds like quite the experience.
00:23:13
So in a story like this, is the real mystery the crash itself or
00:23:17
everything that surrounded it afterwards?
00:23:21
It it's the whole thing and and you know, initially for me,
00:23:26
there's a mystery there. Let's let's explore it, you
00:23:29
know, let's let's go on a, on an adventure to try and solve this
00:23:33
story and see if we can locate this aircraft and figure out
00:23:38
what happened. And that's where it begins.
00:23:40
Over the, the 20 years working with the families and certainly
00:23:44
working with Charles Kingsford Smith Junior, the project
00:23:47
became, I think, a lot more personal, You know, the story on
00:23:51
one hand, but the, the opportunity and ability to bring
00:23:58
closure to the families almost became more important than I
00:24:03
guess the story itself. And I know that I know that
00:24:07
sounds kind of strange, but the driver went from one hand to the
00:24:10
other the course of the project. And I remember when I first met
00:24:17
Charles Junior, he lives in, in, in the United States and I went
00:24:21
over and met him for the first time.
00:24:24
You know, the only promise that I ever made to him is that I
00:24:26
wouldn't give up. So, and even when we'd done all
00:24:29
the work and we had everything else, we were still pushing
00:24:32
forward harder to give more answers to the families and and
00:24:36
things like that. Yeah.
00:24:38
So you know, it, it's not, it's not my whole life and whole
00:24:43
existence. I do do other projects and other
00:24:46
work, but this one had a very, very personal and special
00:24:49
meaning attached to it which I think kept us going over that 20
00:24:52
years. Yeah, it sounds like a That's an
00:24:56
incredible story, It really is. And I know that he had to have
00:25:00
been so thankful that you put all the time and effort into it.
00:25:04
It had to mean a lot. Well, I believe so.
00:25:07
But what was wonderful about this was that both Charles
00:25:12
Junior and the Pertha Bridge family and everybody involved
00:25:16
were on this journey with us. So every expedition we did, they
00:25:20
were there, we were working with them, telling them where we're
00:25:23
up to, what part of the story we think we've solved and so on.
00:25:27
So they felt very included in this process.
00:25:30
And I think that was instrumental in helping that
00:25:33
closure process for them because they were so involved.
00:25:38
And, you know, and over time, they become your investigators
00:25:42
as well, and they become your, they challenge your findings and
00:25:47
things like that. So it was a beautiful process to
00:25:49
have everybody feel included in what we were doing, even though
00:25:54
a lot of it was happening outside of, you know, the, the
00:25:56
world that they live in. So.
00:25:58
What do you do? You have any projects on the
00:25:59
horizon? Do I've just started my next
00:26:02
novel, which is called The Gone, which is an an amazing story,
00:26:11
another mystery and it's tied into, yeah, the Kingsford Smith
00:26:17
story. So over the 18 years when I was
00:26:20
doing this work in Myanmar, the Myanmar government, obviously we
00:26:26
got to a point where they were not wanting to kind of approve
00:26:31
any more expeditions because we weren't getting the results fast
00:26:35
enough. Was a very challenging project.
00:26:37
And they were starting to say, well, maybe this one's the last
00:26:40
one. So part of the history of Burma,
00:26:44
Myanmar, is that in the 10th century, the biggest ringing
00:26:49
bell in the world was cast by the then king of Burma, King
00:26:53
Damasidi. And this bell, ringing bell,
00:26:55
church bell is 30 ton, almost over 30 feet high at 20 feet
00:27:02
across. It's the biggest ringing bell in
00:27:04
the world cast in the 14th century.
00:27:07
And it was stolen by the Portuguese in the 16th century
00:27:10
and lost in the Yangon River as they were transporting it across
00:27:15
the the the to the Portuguese base there in Syria.
00:27:20
And the raft that the bell was being transported on sank and
00:27:25
took the Portuguese man of warship down with it, which they
00:27:28
believe had about $2 billion worth of gold that they'd stolen
00:27:32
also from the Shwedagon Pagoda, which is the main temple in the
00:27:37
Yangon, Burma's capital at the time, and lost in the Angone
00:27:41
River. So when we started to lose
00:27:43
support with the government on the Kingsford Smith project, I
00:27:47
offered, because they had been so wonderful in supporting the
00:27:50
exploration of our history. I offered to help them explore
00:27:54
their history in the story of the Kingdom as Eddie Bell, which
00:27:57
they were very grateful for. So we spent a lot of time on
00:28:02
that project as well. And the history behind the
00:28:05
Kingdom Ziti Bell is is an extraordinary story.
00:28:10
So I've actually started to my next novel on that, which is
00:28:13
called Dagon. Dagon is the ancient name for
00:28:16
Yangon, the capital of Burma at the times.
00:28:20
And that was an extraordinary and we, we believe we found both
00:28:23
bells and the ship that was transporting it.
00:28:27
But due to political concerns and issues and and things like
00:28:34
that, we haven't been able to progress that project much
00:28:37
further. But it's not something that
00:28:40
we're going to stop. But the story itself is, is
00:28:42
amazing. I'm excited to kind of work on
00:28:45
that one step away from the Kingsford Smith story for a
00:28:49
moment in a way. But I there's a lot, lot more to
00:28:56
tell. So yeah, it's going to be quite
00:28:58
fascinating. So a lot more writing.
00:29:00
I'll probably get back into film this year as well.
00:29:03
And so I've got some film projects that I want to get
00:29:05
through. And yeah, so I don't know.
00:29:10
I'm not sure. I'm not sure.
00:29:11
I we'll work it out as we go, Erin.
00:29:14
Absolutely. I that sounds really
00:29:16
interesting. I've never heard of the bell
00:29:17
before. That's really interesting.
00:29:19
My historian brain just like, parked out really.
00:29:23
Oh yeah, you check it out, King Damasziti.
00:29:26
It's a, it's an extraordinary story.
00:29:27
The the theft of the bell by the Portuguese.
00:29:30
So Burma was under, under their control at that time, but the,
00:29:34
the theft of the bell caused the Myanmar people to rise up
00:29:41
foreign ruling country at that time.
00:29:43
So it's a it's a big epic war battle.
00:29:47
It's a bit like Braveheart meets, I don't know, like it's
00:29:52
a, it's a tricky one. It's such a unique story, but
00:29:55
it's a beautiful story. A lot of romance, again, a lot
00:29:57
of a lot of brutality, a lot of war, very, very steeped in, in
00:30:03
mysticism and religion as well. So the the bell itself is
00:30:10
protected by the gnat spirits, which are kind of an evil spirit
00:30:16
in Myanmar. So anyone that touches the bell
00:30:20
will die if they touch it. So there's these are some of the
00:30:24
issues that we've had in the actual Expeditionary work that
00:30:26
we do because I'm not allowed to touch the bell.
00:30:29
And then one of the other myths surrounding the bell is whoever
00:30:33
recovers the bell will take control of Myanmar.
00:30:36
So the people don't want the government to recover the bell,
00:30:39
and the government don't want the people to recover the bell
00:30:42
because whoever recovers it will gain the ultimate power over the
00:30:46
country. And certainly that's why they
00:30:48
don't want me touching it. Not that I would make a a great
00:30:51
king of Myanmar, but these are all very genuine mythical
00:30:56
religious beliefs that the people of Myanmar are
00:31:00
exceptionally passionate about and believing deeply so.
00:31:07
But it would be an amazing project to recover the bell and
00:31:12
reinstate it to the Schwedergong Pagoda.
00:31:15
The Schwedergong Pagoda is probably one of the, I don't
00:31:17
know if you've ever seen it, Aaron, but it's it's like the
00:31:20
eighth wonder of the world. It is a 480 foot high pagoda,
00:31:27
which is all gold is most extraordinary things like it's a
00:31:33
it would, you could put it on the level of the Taj Mahal, you
00:31:36
know, probably even even more spectacular.
00:31:40
It's phenomenal. And Myanmar, Yangon, the capital
00:31:43
is very, very dark at night. Then you have this extraordinary
00:31:46
temple which can be seen from anywhere and and lit up at
00:31:50
night. It should have been, you know,
00:31:53
three 4000 meters into the sky. It's, it's just extraordinary.
00:31:57
So it would be wonderful to reinstate the bill to the temple
00:32:01
and recover that for the people. But we'll keep working on that
00:32:05
one and hopefully down the road that's a a project we can
00:32:09
continue. That is very interesting.
00:32:12
And hopefully the book might generate a bit more interest in
00:32:16
around the world to to actually do that, which would be
00:32:19
fantastic because it is a beautiful story.
00:32:22
Oh my God, that's and it's just incredible.
00:32:26
Yeah, yeah. So we'll keep working on that
00:32:28
one, Erin, and yeah, keep watching your way that.
00:32:32
Sounds good. I have a student actually this
00:32:35
semester that's from there, so I'm going to have to reach out
00:32:37
and be like, you know, for extra credit.
00:32:39
Can you tell me more about them? From Myanmar.
00:32:41
Yes, yeah. Fantastic.
00:32:44
That's that's beautiful. The Myanmar people, it's a very,
00:32:47
very challenged country, especially at the moment with
00:32:50
the war that's going on there. But the Burmese people, the
00:32:54
Myanmar people, really the most beautiful people you can ever
00:32:57
meet in your life. They have such an extraordinary
00:33:00
attitude and happiness that that is, is deep within them and, and
00:33:06
certainly through their religion.
00:33:08
And the people of Myanmar are extraordinary.
00:33:10
And one of the wonderful things and great opportunities that
00:33:14
I've had through the work that I've done there is to, to give
00:33:17
support to them and to the country.
00:33:19
So I don't know, I, I, I kind of look at me and my, you know,
00:33:25
large part of my life spent there, You know, it's almost a
00:33:27
second home to me. So, and I've got a lot of
00:33:31
wonderful friends and deeply connected to, to Burma and
00:33:34
Myanmar. So it's a, it's fantastic.
00:33:38
You're going to, you're going to love, they're going to know who
00:33:40
King Damasiti is. Don't.
00:33:41
I'm, I'm looking forward to it. I'll have to send it your way
00:33:43
because now my my curiosity is peaked and I look forward to
00:33:47
your project. You'll love the story.
00:33:49
It's brilliant. So yeah.
00:33:51
For sure, absolutely. So where can the audience find
00:33:54
you? Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,
00:33:59
various bits and pieces, but if you just Google Damien Lai D AM
00:34:04
i.e. NLAY, you'll find all the dirt
00:34:07
on me there. But oh, there.
00:34:09
And man, the novel is available through booksellers everywhere
00:34:12
worldwide. Amazon, of course, and ask for
00:34:16
it by name in bookstores if they don't have it.
00:34:18
And yeah, every, every book bookseller worldwide.
00:34:23
So check it out. I'll give you, I'll give your
00:34:25
audience a money back guarantee. If they don't like it, they can.
00:34:28
They can e-mail me and I'm confident that they will love
00:34:32
the stories. Absolutely.
00:34:34
I am too. It's a good one.
00:34:36
It is. It's a very good one.
00:34:37
So thank you so much. This has been absolutely
00:34:40
fascinating. It's been wonderful, Aaron, to
00:34:42
talk to you and thank you to all your listeners for for hanging
00:34:47
in there with me. Yes, absolutely.
00:34:49
You're fascinating for sure. What an incredible conversation.
00:34:55
A huge thank you to Damien Leigh for joining me today and sharing
00:34:58
not just his work, but the passion, persistence and
00:35:02
personal connection behind it. Stories like this remind us that
00:35:06
history isn't just something we study, it's something that lives
00:35:09
on through the people who refuse to let it be forgotten.
00:35:14
If today's episode sparked your curiosity, be sure to check out
00:35:17
Damien's novel of Air and Men, available worldwide wherever
00:35:20
books are sold. Trust me, if you love mystery,
00:35:23
history, and stories that stay with you long after the final
00:35:26
page, this one is worth your time.
00:35:29
And as always, if you enjoyed this episode of Plot Twist
00:35:31
Radio, don't forget to follow rate and share it with someone
00:35:34
who loves a great story as much as you do.
00:35:37
Until next time, keep chasing the stories that won't let you
00:35:40
go.