‘The Tiny Book for Giant Men’ launched

By Josh Low

Former Hawthorn ruckman and AFL Premiership winner Steve Lawrence was in Hobart this month for the launch of his new book The Tiny Book for Giant Men.

Published by Parousia Media in late 2023, the book was officially launched by Archbishop Julian on Thursday 1 August at the Fr John Wall Library in New Town.

Consisting of 19 chapters filled with letters to his sons, the book addresses various topics related to manhood, including courage, purpose, mercy, tenderness, forgiveness and gratitude.

With a background in ministry, education and his own work-leadership business for faith-based leaders in a Catholic context, Steve explained he has had a growing desire over the past decade to write a book on themes he regularly speaks about.

Enabled by the COVID lockdowns of 2020 in Victoria, Steve explained that he was afforded the time and opportunity to devote to prayer and writing The Tiny Book for Giant Men.

“I wanted to write something that’s really, entirely, authentically, 100 percent me without apology,” he said.

“That meant it could be filled with faith and bits about saints, advice, stories and scripture quotes and all that, which is typical of how I speak.

“I thought to myself, ‘You know what? What I really want to say, what I’ve really got to give, what I really desire to put out there is what I’d want to say to my sons – so I’m going to write it to them. Even if I never publish it, or even if nobody ever else reads it, I don’t actually care – that’s not the point’.

“What I care about is giving them something they will feed from for years, hopefully, down the decades. The book itself is an act of fatherhood.

“I’ve always just said, ‘Lord, it’s yours. Whatever you want to do. If it doesn’t go anywhere, that’s fine, just for the boys’. But it seems that it’s come to life and here it is.

“I do speak and write in such a way, I hope, to those deeper senses of struggle that we live [with], and to equip and inspire and empower, so that men can be truly, truly men,” he said.

Archbishop Julian emphasised that nowhere better can good men be found than in the faithful and dedicated exercise of fatherhood.

“Steve Lawrence, a giant man in physical stature and in quality of character, has given us a book in which he shares his fatherhood of his three sons, Dominic, Jerome and Ambrose.

“This book, The Tiny Book for Giant Men, is about fatherhood at a most intimate level. It is a witness to fatherhood – personal and real.

“It reveals firstly his fatherly love for and guidance of his sons, and a level of intimate relationship with each of them, with advice and encouragement to his sons firmly grounded in his personal faith.

“I found that I could quietly read one chapter at a time and then bask in its warmth, truth and insight.

“It is a book for the soul that attracts a quiet and prayerful reflection, offered in an environment of faith and love, providing a recipe for how a young man can grow to become a noble man, becoming a good husband and a great father,” he said.

The book is available for purchase through Parousia Media at: https://store.parousiamedia.com/the-tiny-book-for-giant-men-steve-lawrence-paperback/