Grandma Wallaroo is a fiction story with sprinkles of true events. Wally, as Grandma is called has and does live a very active life. This story takes us fly fishing with her Grandson that has some life threatening surprises. Her Granddaughter talks her into going to look at a car to buy and ends up with something totally different. She signs up for a trip to the International Space Station with 34 others and ends up returning from space in a very different and unproven way with an astronaut that was there to test the recovery unit.
Australia's first female prime minister. The country's first female judge. The first woman to win the Archibald Prize for portraiture. Australia's first female chief diplomat. The nation's first female winemaker. These women were all trailblazers, but they have something else in common - every one of them was South Australian. And they are just a handful of the 100 remarkable women whose stories are told in this beautiful book, illustrated with hundreds of photographs. Written by historian Carolyn Collins and journalist Roy Eccleston, Trailblazers shines a light on the lives of these extraordinary women whose feats inspired their state, nation and, often enough, the world. Now they can inspire a whole new generation.
A First Nations Elder shares his extraordinary story of finding kindness in the midst of prejudice, and joy in living life to the full 'A powerful tale that tells a different story of our country' Bruce Pascoe 'A great Australian book about a great Australian' Paul Kennedy 'Told with heart' Ali Cobby Eckermann 'Destined to become a classic' Phillip Adams 'Welcome to my story. It's a simple story of a simple person, who's lived a long life now with some struggles along the way. I didn't learn a lot in school, not in the classroom, anyway. But I learned a lot from life.' Vince Copley was born on a government mission into poverty in 1936. By the time he was fifteen, five of his family had died. But at a home for Aboriginal boys, he befriended future leaders Charles Perkins, John Moriarty and Gordon Briscoe. They were friendships that would last a lifetime. 'Always remember you're as good as anybody else,' his mother, Kate, often told him. And he was, becoming a champion footballer and premiership-winning coach. But change was in the air, and Vince knew he had more to contribute. So he teamed up with Charlie Perkins, his 'brother' from the boys' home, to help make life better for his people. At every step, with his beloved wife, Brenda, Vince found light in the darkness, the friendly face in the crowd, the small moments and little things that make the world go round. In The Wonder of Little Things, Vince tells his story with humour, humility and wisdom. Written with his friend Lea McInerney over many cups of tea, it is an Australian classic in the making, a plain-speaking account of hardship, courage and optimism told without self-pity or big-noting. Vince's love of life will make you smile, his heartache will make you cry, and his determination to enjoy life in the face of adversity will inspire you to find the wonder in little things every day.
A soccer-loving brother and sister, along with the Aboriginal exchange student that lives with their family, travel to Australia to find out if it is Utopia, and learn a lot along the way.
‘My sister was a wonderful woman’. So wrote George Canning Jackson on 7 February 1964. His sister, Sarah Elizabeth Jackson (known to friends and family by her second name, Elizabeth), had died of consumption on 14 January 1923, aged thirty-two. Canning Jackson was writing to Dr Helen Mayo, to whom he sent all the letters written by Elizabeth that he had been able to find. These letters were later deposited in the Rare Books and Special Collections section of the Barr Smith Library in the University of Adelaide, and are here presented in with an introduction by Barbara Wall. Elizabeth had a remarkable influence on the young men and women of Adelaide, especially those connected with the University of Adelaide. Her exceptional personality, her extraordinary powers of thinking and communicating, her thoughtfulness, her devotion to the causes of women and children, her passion for redressing wrongs, her wit and delight in nonsense all shine through these letters, and help us to understand the outstanding impact and influence she had on her contemporaries.
Funny, straight-talking Ruby lives on a cattle station and goes to the ‘silver bullet’ school. When she questions Mr Duncan, her well-meaning teacher, on why their cultures are so at odds with each other, she unintentionally triggers her own awakening. The more Ruby learns, the harder the journey becomes as she is drawn back to country to uncover the secrets of her past. Us Mob Walawurru follows the life of Ruby, a young Luritja girl growing up in Central Australia in the 1960s. Living on a cattle station, Ruby is faced with many situations and dilemmas resulting from cultural difference – education, language, family obligation, relationship to country and environment, and ideas of ownership. Us Mob Walawurru is a work of historical fiction and inter-cultural exploration. Some of the events are based on stories told by the Luritja people of Titjikala in the Central Australia. Some historical events are also included.
