Award winning artist and filmmaker George Gittoes said he always had a problem with fear.
He remembers a story of when he was a young boy living in Rockdale racing billy carts.
Each of his friends knew when to stop short of the nearby hill but he was the only one to go over the edge resulting in a trip to hospital.
“I’ve always had a problem with fear,’’ he said.
“It started from the beginning in Rockdale to when I was in Afghanistan with a gun against my head.
“I’m not alive if I’m not testing myself. I feel like my life has been one billy cart race after another.’’
The story is one of many told in his memoir Blood Mystic which is released today.
The book follows him during his two years in Afghanistan where he shot his film Snow Monkey and where he opened the artist’s co-operative Yellow House in the centre of Jalalabad.
Intertwined is stories of his upbringing in St George and his trips to outback Australia, American, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Baghdad and Bosnia.
He has been shot, stabbed, bombed, beaten, tortured, drowned and jailed. He has worked with Andy Warhol, dined with Fidel Castro, plotted with Julian Assange, been feted by Mandela, blessed by Mother Theresa and sneezed on by the Dalai Lama.
He said two people in particular inspired him; Julian Assange and his wife Helen Rose.
“I feel like Julian and I are cut from the same cloth,’’ he said.
“He is one person I feel total kinship with.’’
He also credits his wife Helen who has been by his side for the past 10 years.
“Helen doesn’t take no for an answer, she just jumps on a plane,’’ he said.
“I love having her dodging bullets next to me. We’re a bit of a double act.’’
Mr Gittoes grew up in Rockdale and went to Bexley Public School and later Kogarah High School, which he still visits to mentor students.
He studied fine arts at the University of Sydney and helped establish the artist’s co-operative Yellow House, in Potts Point, from 1969 to 1972, with fellow artists Brett Whitely and Martin Sharp.
He said his character was shaped early on living among a multicultural community.
His grandfather was a horse trainer and a low grade criminal which was a sharp contrast to his bohemian mother.
“In retrospect, he gave me the ability to be an artist in a war zone,’’ he said.
“I’m really proud to have grown up in Rockdale. If I had grown up in some other leafy suburbs then George Gittoes wouldn’t have existed.’’
He said he wasn’t worried about the reviews and instead hoped people could enjoy his book as a great read.
“It’s not really just for intellectuals, normal people can enjoy it,’’ he said.
“It’s more important for me to see the surfing instructors next door say it’s really cool.’’
Blood Mystic is published by Macmillan Australia, RRP $49.99, available in stores on Tuesday, October 25.