Reverend Doctor Barry Marshall, also known as Brother Timothy, was born in Coolah and spent considerable time as a Bush Brother in Dubbo and Bourke before going to Trinity College Melbourne University, then onto Oxford.

Dr Nola Firth, who knew Brother Timothy when she was an undergraduate at Melbourne University, launched the book in Dubbo with the help of Bishop Graham Walden earlier this month.

“I think a story like his, it’s a great Australian story,” Dr Firth said.

“He was a Bush Brother and went across and did his PhD in Oxford but [instead of staying there] he said no, I’m a Bush Brother, I’m going back to Bourke.

“I think he’s someone that would inspire people, Christian or not, and we need a bit of inspiration at the moment.”

Dr Firth began writing the book after she stumbled upon 13 archived boxes of written material about his life.

People had been asked to contributed their memories of Brother Timothy after his death at the age of 47, to turn into a memorial book.

The book never eventuated, but “all the material was there”, Dr Firth said.

She added interviews of her own to the text, with Bourke’s Joy Crothers, June Gooch and Cecil Dorrington all contributing.

“I think [Brother Timothy] impressed me so much because he was clearly someone who had a deep knowledge of the spiritual life and put the spiritual life into practice,” Dr Firth said.

“This kind of knowledge I think is what many people are looking for in their search for meaning. His example stayed with me – even though much of my life I have been practising Zen Buddhism it was built on my Christian roots.

“With the high level of depression in society, especially among young people, I think such knowledge is very important.

“There’s a lot of terrible sadness about the betrayal with child abuse [in the church], but here’s an example of a man who was actually solid gold.”

The book is available at the Book Connection in Dubbo, with 20 per cent of all sales to go to Australia for UNHCR (the United Nations’ Refugee Agency).