Entertainment
6 December, 2025
Book details city’s pioneers
Author publishes yarns about 50 years of Cairns’ entrepreneurs and innovators
A BOOK has been launched detailing 50 years of modern pioneers in Cairns.
‘Cairns Modern Pioneers: 50 Stories in 50 Years’ is a contemporary social history documenting the city’s development from 1950 to 2000.
The collection, based on personal interviews and research, traced Cairns’ transformation from a laidback Far North sugar town into a vibrant multicultural city.
Author Carol Libke, who lived in Cairns for more than 40 years, said the book was inspired by her firsthand experience of the city’s growth.
“Well, what inspired me to write the history was not only being here so long but also being here at a time of growth, growing from a small sugar town … to a vibrant multicultural city,” she said.
“While you’re living that history, you don’t realise it until you look back.”
The book highlights key figures and events that shaped Cairns, including early Italian migrants, bush pilots, entrepreneurs, First Nations people and community leaders.
Ms Libke said she chose stories that represented different aspects of the city’s development over half a century.
“When I started in the narrative arc of the story … I had to say, ‘well, who can tell this story best?’
“One of those was a family who first bought lychees into Australia and found markets down south for their produce,” she said.
“As soon as I told a lot of friends, I restructured the book to be 50 stories in 50 years.
“They said, ‘Oh, that’s a great idea.’ Because people think, ‘Oh, I might read two stories tonight and then tomorrow, I’ll read something else’.”
Ms Libke said she hoped readers would recognise the challenges and achievements of the people who built the city.
“People are very, very ready to wipe away history … the reason why I wanted to write this book was to show who these people were and what they went through to build this town to what it is today,” she said.
On the importance of community and resilience, she said: “Look where we came from. Look what we had to deal with: floods, cyclones, adversity … but we rose above that and we did it together. That’s what it’s about.”
The book is now available at Cairns Books, priced at $49.95, and is expected to be popular in the lead-up to Christmas.
