Veet loved life! Loud, colourful and enthusiastic!

Veet was a passionate activist, the ‘feral cat killer of Coonan’, whose message to us all was: ‘I am love. I am loving. I am lovable.’

‘Veet’ was born Gary Ivor Lang on 17 March 1942 in Frankston, Victoria, during World War II to Beryl and Ivor Lang. His parents were married before Ivor left to serve in the army. 

Young Gary was one of those kids that never had to sweat at school and had consistently good marks as a student. Gary left school and started his plumbing apprenticeship at Swinburn Technical College at the age of 15, becoming the dux of the school and going on to become his father’s apprentice in Canberra. 

Gary married Lorraine in 1966 and they birthed two daughters Nikki and Fiona. 

When Gary’s mother Beryl died in 1977, in his grief he found it difficult to maintain the marriage to Lorraine, or relationships with his father and his daughters Nikki and Fiona. That same year Gary and Lorraine divorced. 

Gary found his new family at the Dreamtime Community in Thora Valley. He went to India in 1980, was blessed by Osho and received his new name, Veet Mayo. Veet later sold his handcrafted marimbas at Bellingen markets. 

Passionate activist 

Veet was a passionate activist for the planet. One day he headed to Sydney, bought a tent and set it up outside Neville Wran’s office in Macquarie Street and protested about the sand mining at Middle Head. 

In 1991, Veet headed for Queensland to join a community. There he opened a wood workshop where Veet became a self- taught drum maker and was known as the ‘feral cat killer of Cooran’. 

Veet and Paula met at Durrumbul Hall in 1997, they danced, laughed, and became one. The mother drums, the highlight of the business, were sold to Cirque du Soleil, to the enactment of Thor Heyerdahl Kon-Tiki raft arrival into Oslo, Norway and to local artist Solveig, Wilsons Creek. 

In 2004, Veet and Paula bought a share in the Main Arm Eco Village and moved into an old Bedford bus that they renovated by hand together. As Veet entered his 70th year, they closed the doors on their business and commenced building the biggest drum-house ever. The building never stopped, today the land has many creations: sustainable off-grid housing, workshops, fruit orchards and vegetable gardens. 

When Veet realised he needed to document his life story he entered The Hoffman Process, to prepare himself for his final frontier; death, and wanting to remove some of the obstacles which caused him to live unconsciously. 

Veet was a creator of magic! Veet’s message to us all: ‘I am love. I am loving. I am lovable.’ 

For memorial details, see classifieds pages.