The Nullarbor Nymph

How a PR man saved a struggling Aussie town

This article belongs to the Hundred-Word Histories series.

Picture this: a tiny West Australian town on the edge of the world. A pub, nearly empty. A PR man with an unpaid motel bill, a beer, and an idea. It’s Boxing Day, 1971. Geoff Pearce is passing through Eucla and promises the motel owner he’ll put the withering town on the map. He convinces the hunter’s wife to slip on fresh kangaroo skins for a photoshoot. A grainy photo of a wild Tarzan girl living amongst the roos makes its way around the world. Cameras and journalists fly in from everywhere. The cameras catch nothing, but Eucla lives on.