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Ian Higgins BA (Hons), BEd, DipDiv has been fascinated by words for as long as he can remember. He has written short stories, poetry and many letters to the editor, as well as editing the Religious Education Journal of Australia at its inception.

 

He has now retired on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria with his wife Barbara.

 

In his late seventies he was diagnosed as having late onset bipolar disorder. These memoirs are written from a bipolar perspective in the hope that this shared lived experience may be a help to others.

At the age of 65 Gordon Lewis was described by an enraged senior judge as a 'bloody maverick!' He took comfort from this assessment as he felt it confirmed that he was on the right track...

 

Gordon Lewis loves the humanity of the Law. That affection has led him to a legal career of great diversity. Whether as Director of the Victorian Law Institute, sitting as a County Court Judge, regular presentations on radio, guest speaker at both overseas and Australian conferences, or his role as Cricket Australia's Senior Code of Conduct Commissioner, his name has become almost as well known to the general public as it is to the legal profession.

 

Known for his warmth, compassion and quick wit, he has devoted many years to assisting and advising young lawyers. The textbook he originally co-authored with Justice Kyrou, Handy Hints on Legal Practice, was once described as the only legal textbook to ever make the readers laugh. Several years ago he decided to write 'a funny book about the law and his life so far.' This book is the result. Whether it is the law stripped of its pomposity, cricket, film reviewing, greyhounds or just coping with life's exigencies, the self-deprecatory humour in these pages gives a rare insight into the author's kindness and sense of fun. You might also think that apart from writing 'a funny book', almost coincidentally the author has recorded a testament to overcoming personal adversity.

This unforgettable story has become an Australian classic describing how an Australian bush girl saved the lives of 1,000 Polish and Jewish children in a daring escape from the Nazis. This updated edition contains an important eye-witness account of the burning of Smyrna (Izmir) causing a vast number of deaths. The author's father, a young British naval officer, saved hundreds of Greeks from the blaze that destroyed their beautiful city and many of them would be cared for by Joice Loch in a Greek refugee camp and later in the refugee village of Ouranoupolis, now a holiday resort.

Joice Loch was an extraordinary Australian. She had the inspired courage that saved many hundreds of Jews and Poles in World War II, the compassion that made her a self-trained doctor to tens of thousands of refugees, the incredible grit that took her close to death in several theatres of war, and the dedication to truth and justice that shone forth in her own books and a lifetime of astonishing heroism.

Born in a cyclone in 1887 on a Queensland sugar plantation she grew up in grinding poverty in Gippsland and emerged from years of unpaid drudgery by writing a children's book and freelance journalism. In 1918 she married Sydney Loch, author of a banned book on Gallipoli. After a dangerous time in Dublin during the Troubles, they escaped from possible IRA vengeance to work with the Quakers in Poland. There they rescued countless dispossessed people from disease and starvation and risked death themselves.

In 1922 Joice and Sydney went to Greece to aid the 1,500,000 refugees fleeing Turkish persecution. Greece was to become their home. They lived in an ancient tower by the sea in the shadows of Athos, the Holy Mountain, and worked selflessly for decades to save victims of war, famine and disease.

During World War II, Joice Loch was an agent for the Allies in Eastern Europe and pulled off a spectacular escape to snatch over a thousand Jews and Poles from death just before the Nazis invaded Bucharest, escorting them via Constantinople to Palestine.

By the time she died in 1982 she had written ten books, saved many thousands of lives and was one of the world's most decorated women. At her funeral the Greek Orthodox Bishop of Oxford named her 'one of the most significant women of the twentieth century.'

This classic Australian biography is a tribute to one of Australia's most heroic women, who always spoke with great fondness of Queensland as her birthplace. In 2006, a Loch Memorial Museum was opened in the tower by the sea in Ouranoupolis, a tribute to the Lochs and their humanitarian work.

In the 1890s in a bizarre social experiment, a band of over 500 Australians - mostly men and just three single women - sailed to South America to create a communal Utopia, a New Australia, in the jungles of Paraguay. One of them was a red-headed schoolteacher Mary Cameron, a poet and feminist, who left the writer Henry Lawson behind, despairing on the wharf. Politics in the Australian colony were soon tumultuous. Mary, rejected by one man she loved, married another, had a son, and she and her near-illiterate shearer husband Will Gilmore left Paraguay for the vast Patagonian sheep estancias of southern Argentina to earn their passages home.

Anne Whitehead chronicles the full history of the Australian experiment in Paraguay, including an account of the descendants of those who remained, in her award-winning Paradise Mislaid: In Search of the Australian Tribe of Paraguay (1998). In this second work she focuses on Mary's four years at the colony and, in particular, on her two fraught and previously little-known years in Patagonia.

Mary's independent spirit soon offended the strict rules of the estancia ruling class and she was forced to leave her husband for the tough frontier town of Río Gallegos. Speaking little Spanish, she supported her child for almost six months. Dame Mary later became an Australian national icon, campaigned for many causes including Aboriginal rights and she is on the $10 note today.

In a remarkable blend of biography and travel writing, Anne Whitehead follows in Mary's footsteps in South America, searching out places where she lived and traces of her stay, during a period of severe economic depression and political repression in Argentina, just as there was in Mary's experience. She brings to life a testing time in one of the harshest places on earth.

'Patagonia is a rich source of curious incidents and eccentric people, and Whitehead makes the most of these, describing the Welsh towns of Trelew and Puerto Madryn... a robbery pulled off by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Charles Darwin's forays from the Beagle; W.H. Hudson's delight in the birds of the region, and the search for the giant sloth carried out by Mr Hesketh Prichard of the Daily Express. She mentions Bruce Chatwin, who turned up unannounced at the great estancia of Killik Aike, where the Gilmores had lived for some months, only to be sent away "with a flea in his ear" by its current owners. Mary Gilmore left Killik Aike abruptly too... [Her] letters reflect a courageous, resourceful and strong-willed woman... "Yea! I have lived" was how she began one poem, and reading Anne Whitehead's spry account of her life, it is hard not to agree.' - Times Literary Supplement

'I quickly fell under the spell of Whitehead's intelligent writing... a biography that compassionately embraces the artistic, emotional and political aspect of Mary Gilmore's life' - Age

'This splendid and fascinating book is brilliantly balanced as part memoir, part well-researched recreation of the young Mary Gilmore as inamorata of Henry Lawson, as radical wife, Paraguayan and Patagonian settler, and as abidingly Australian soul.' - Thomas Keneally

'Bluestocking in Patagonia is a very beautiful book. In the first place, Whitehead writes with considerable flair, and with a fine eye for detail. The text is intelligently crafted, switching between Australia and South America, past and present, self and other... Yet Bluestocking in Patagonia is important for other reasons. This book is as much about Whitehead's effort to retrace Gilmore's steps as about Gilmore herself and is, in this respect, a fine blend of history and travel writing: a combination we also find in Whitehead's earlier book on the Paraguaya

Fourteen years since fleeing South Africa, leading social commentator on authentic leadership in ethical performance, Geraldine Coy, has finally told her touching and confronting story on apartheid in South Africa, in Brave Truth.

The human atrocity that was Apartheid in South Africa has been well documented over the decades. However none are more compelling than the front line account told in Brave Truth.

Geraldine Coy's book, Brave Truth reveals a first-hand look at what it was like to live through the volatility of an apartheid world, and the aftermath that followed it.

As a member of a Commission of Enquiry that published a report on findings of violence and atrocities, Geraldine and her family received numerous death threats and consequently had to flee the country and settle in Australia.

Geraldine reveals, for the first time, uncensored stories of those who were there and the courage and determination that kept them going after facing unspeakable events.

Whilst this focus is unparalleled in its raw cruelty in the context of our current society, the story is set into the context of Geraldine's life.

Geraldine emerged in a new South Africa firstly as a student activist and matured into a mediator advocating peaceful resolution of conflict across all communities. Geraldine's own foreword to the book hints at the work she was involved in, and the people with whom she was so privileged to work.

"I have found that without the mutual obligation of us all to each other, to build a future based on respect for our rights; to live as we choose to live; to have a home which we can call a safe place; and the right to bring our children up in a world where their opportunities will be as broad as their dreams and as real as their efforts, we won't be able to take the next step toward this goal."

"I have tried to demonstrate that true compassion is a firm and rational decision made with sound reasoning, and does not falter even in the face of those who behave badly. That does not mean that I have ever shied away from the need for those responsible for bad behaviour to be held accountable in some form or another."

In this book, readers will be invited into the truth behind the real cause(s) of violence and the perpetration of terrible acts of retribution within communities driven by despair and poverty. The complexities of these communities, their history forged in the Apartheid regime, the values of their traditional leadership and the emergence of a new local order, thrown into a melting pot of controversy, all prevented the development of anything close to a safe society.

 

My Chinese name - Xiyan, meaning bright swallow - was chosen by my mother with great expectations. As one of China's "new women", she had travelled widely, dressed elegantly, and dined in fine restaurants. In the bleakness of Mao's China, she saw little opportunity for her only daughter to live such a life. Her last words to me were: "At least I lived a life". She could not have known how much defiance these words would stir in me.

 

Orphaned at fifteen, I fought against cold, hunger and discrimination. Without an adult at home, I listened to vinyl records of "bourgeois" music, read banned books and became a secret storyteller. I saved every penny for train trips to the country's natural wonders - something unheard of at that time. Sent to the countryside for re-education, I drew water from wells, collected manure from pigsties, drove a horse-drawn cart and bonded with animals. However, I never stopped looking for chances to escape the life that I had been placed in.

 

Bright Swallow is a moving story of endurance, hope and resilience.

Brilliant Artists in Trio

A volume of three feature pieces.

1. Janet Baker, the Wind in Her Hair.

Opera's Dame Janet, now retired from the stage to song performance, takes to sea on a yacht, the better to understand the rhythms of Elgar's Sea Pictures, of which she is already the world's authority.

She was playing with the sound of the waves from the bow, it seemed to me, "Never before under sail', she said. It was very close to song.

2. St Brigid and the Wizard.

Paula Dawson is an artist who works with holograms. Most famous of her works is a virtual re-creation of her 1989 New Year's Eve party room the following morning, in which the debris recalls the actions in time past.

Here, she builds a hologram of the Holy Spirit, for the worshippers in St Brigid's Church, working throughout the night on a tremor-insulated stage near Adelaide.

3. Max Gillies, the Character Onstage.

Watches one of the finest character actors in the world, perform political satire to live audiences.

Gillies' own face is not as well known as those he has played behind, and whenever bailed up by some passing admirer he is deeply pleased, but his eyes cloud as if with a passing fear that he may be asked to prove himself now with a short performance as Ronald Regan or the Queen of England, right here on the footpath.

Four and a half months after her boyfriend became a paraplegic in a motorbike accident, he and Emma travelled to Australia, Emma's home country, and embarked upon a 18,000 kilometre backpacking trip.

This story takes the reader on a whirlwind trip around Australia. A young woman struggling to accept her boyfriend's paralysis, and a paraplegic man backpacking during a time many spinal injured patients remain in hospital.

Written with honesty, insight and dark humour, Emma examines the dynamics of the relationship, impact of the injury, difficulties faced learning to live in a wheelchair in a challenging country, and encountering perceptions of the disabled.

Ultimately, this is a compelling love story.

I believe not only people experiencing spinal injuries, their family and friends would be interested in my book, but also people interested in travel and memoir. Kev and I were a typical young couple working ski seasons, and my book shows that life can change quickly and dramatically. - Emma White

An energetic and enthralling series of encounters with warlords, mujahideen fighters and hardy deminers that will take you into the life of an Australian soldier sent alone into the wilds of Afghanistan.

 

In 1991, following the Soviet-Afghan war, Graeme Membrey left the comfort of his home in Perth to work for an Afghan NGO in the United Nations demining program. Along with his pregnant wife, he travelled to Karachi, then to Islamabad, before settling in the city of Peshawar where he was to spend a year closely working with deminers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

Away from the front line, this book deals with the less-told story of what is left behind after war ends. With humour and humility, Graeme Membrey recounts a variety of incidents and surprising stories of his time in this part of the world. Behind the anecdotes lies the story of friendship and the universal connexion between humans in spite of language barriers and cultural differences.

Gathered on a cold, misty morning in their Georgian mansion on the shores of Lough Derg in depressed 1950s' Ireland, with debts mounting, this seemed like a dream for the prominent Esmonde family, including the teller of this captivating memoir, then seven-year-old, Rosemary.

Hardship awaits down under, but Rosemary and her family bravely fight back, seizing every opportunity and experience with courage and humour.

Rosemary's remarkable story has many twists and turns as she moves from Tipperary to remote rural New South Wales, post war Canberra, as a young bride to Papua New Guinea, apple orcharding and setting up a successful business in Tasmania and sailing the Mediterranean (where she and her husband, Rob are compiling their fifth photographic coffee table book on sailing, seafood and wine). Come with her as we meet her illustrious ancestors (including two Victoria Cross recipients), encounter exotic countries and fascinating people, always living her life to the brim.

How do women defy the odds and get their careers back on track after a break? How do women manage the mummy mafia at the school gate? Is there a motherhood penalty? Can women really have it all - a successful career and a rewarding family life? Does overseas experience really accelerate your career in Australia? How do you recreate your career after a setback?

 

In Career Interrupted fourteen high-achieving women talk openly about their challenges in carving out a successful career after a break. These women come from all walks of life - from battlers to privileged backgrounds, from small business to big corporations, from large corporates to small business, from professional services to the community sector. Several women had children and talk candidly about what it's like to be in the throes of mother guilt and come out the other side; some are expatriates who returned to Australia to rebuild their career, yet others had to re-establish their career after a misstep.

 

These stories are interwoven with the latest research from thought leaders around the obstacles and pitfalls in leaving the workforce for a time, and include practical and proven strategies to overcome these hurdles.

 

Career Interrupted contributes to the discussion and debate in business and the broader community about how to develop workplaces where the contribution of everyone, including women, is recognised, nurtured and optimised. It explores the shared experiences of women who have had to navigate a break in their career and provides a beacon for other women about to embark on a similar journey.

 

Her Excellency Frances Adamson, Australian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China;

Anna Burke, Federal member for Chisolm;

Lisa Croxford, Capability Development Manager, Herbert Smith Freehills;

Lucinda Dunn OAM, Artistic Director, Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy;

Dr Marguerite Evans-Galea, Scientist, Bruce Lefroy Centre, Murdoch Children's Research Institute;

Jennifer Keyte, Seven News Melbourne Weekend News Presenter;

Dr Sharon Lierse, Lecturer, Charles Darwin University;

Samone McCurdy, PhD candidate and Program Consultant, Monash University;

Lucinda Nolan, Deputy Police Commissioner, Victoria Police;

Kelly O'Dwyer, Federal Member of Parliament for Higgins and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer;

Dr Hannah Piterman, Consultant, advisor and author, co-founder of Gender Worx;

Moira Rayner, Lawyer and former WA Anti-corruption Commissioner;

Lucy Roland, Marketing specialist and Communications Coach;

Jodie Sizer, Principal, PwC Indigenous Consulting;

Tracey Spicer, Journalist and newsreader;

Dr Helen Szoke, Chief Executive, Oxfam Australia;

Dr Jennifer Whelan, Director, Psynapse Psychometrics and Research Fellow, Melbourne Business School.

 

'These stories offer inspiration and give insight into how success was achieved by many women despite the ongoing barriers to equality. They provide plenty of ideas for anyone wishing to have a career break, for any reason.' - Kate Jenkins, Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner

In 1940, a seventeen year old girl Carys Harding Browne comes of age in Adelaide, Australia. At this time young clever men meet together at St, Mark's University College to share their love of poetry. By December 1940, St. Marks is leased to the Royal Australian Airforce as an embarkation depot. The Second World War is in earnest. This story is about young people growing up and falling in love against the backdrop of war where dances, friendship and the arts become a consolation in a fragile and uncertain time. It is, above all, the diary of a young girl finding herself amidst the impact of war.

This is a literary time capsule, a fastidious, vivid and shameless record of two pivotal years in Adelaide's history. Carys was part of a fast set which drank sherry, danced until dawn, fell in and out of love, read the latest books, saw all the shows, frolicked in the parklands and loved to thrill-seek. Some among this decadent generation were to become famous names. Pre-war, theirs was an antipodean Scott Fitzgerald life; their wild joie de vivre being piqued as the young poets and promising university students signed up and left to fight, several soon to die. Carys was too unruly to be given her dream job as a journalist but, as this wonderful book reveals, she was a very gifted diarist. - Samela Harris

'For a long time I have been intending to write down earliest memories to discover how many I retain clear-cut before my memory is too moth-eaten. I meant to do this as a diary for myself alone, as sailors in the doldrums erect full-rigged ships in bottles just because the mind is an instrument that sanity cannot leave idle. I must find some kind of exercise for a mind unused except on chores or with the triffle-traffle of housewives.'

Miles Franklin wrote this delightful autobiography in 1952-1953. She was unable to arrange for publication before her death in 1954 and the MS. came to Angus and Robertson Ltd from her executors, the Permanent Trustee Co. Ltd of New South Wales. It was first published in 1963.

The brutal bashings of a five-year-old Cody Hutchings by his step-father promoted a major change in state legislation in Australia.

After Stuart John McMaster was found guilty manslaughter, the Victorian State Government introduced the new offence of child homicide.

Welcome to Crime Shots - short, sharp, true crime stories from Australia's past and present.

Jan Smith's Confessions... is finally out! Self-acknowledged victim of too many books and too much liveliness, this is an almost intergalactic memoir where small town life at Eumundi, Queensland meets the political changes of war-time Australia, Catholics and Protestants hold an uneasy truce, and Irish black humour abounds: By English standards there wasn't a Right in Australia, just men who'd stopped being Left. We visit Brisbane and Longreach in less-than-fashionable 50s, then the urban thrall of Sydney and Woman magazine. Marriage, motherhood and the enigmas of the Bulletin. Separation, independence, even editor of Forum magazine, topped off with a home birth at 40...

Jan Smith is the author of two novels, An Ornament of Grace (Sun Books, 1966) and The Worshipful Company (Cassell, 1969), and co-author, with Dr William Vayda, of Health for Life: Are You Allergic to the Twentieth Century? (Sphere Books 1981)

After dropping out of the University of Queensland and working as a cadet journalist on The Courier Mail Jan went to Sydney and joined Woman's Day magazine. After three years on Woman's Day, she was forced to resign because she had married a staff member, and for the next fifty years survived by freelancing, notably for The Bulletin and Pol magazine, apart from a year on Forum UK, the sex magazine, and Australian Business.

She now lives happily in King's Cross, Sydney, with her cat, doing what she'd have rather done all along.