Born in 1973? What else happened? - (Born in 19xx? What Else Happened?) by Ron Williams (Paperback)

About the Book

This Book is the 36th in a Series that covers each of the 36 years from 1939 to 1974. Good reading, nothing academic about them, But entertaining, instructive, and a bit irreverent at times.

Book Synopsis

BOOK DESCRIPTION

1973. Queen Elizabeth II opened the Sydney Opera House, and is now entitled as "Queen of Australia." Young people over 18 can vote for the Federal Elections, and the pensions of older people are no longer means-tested. You can spend new Fifty Dollar notes at Australia's first legal casino in Hobart. China is OK again, with a three-year Trade agreement with OZ, and Gough being the first Oz PM to visit. Police arrested 98 Green demonstrators occupying a building site in Sydney. Women got maternity leave if they work for the Federal Government, but only if they had a baby. Men should not apply. You cannot sell kangaroo products overseas any more. The White Australia Policy is gone, and so too is the death penalty.

ABOUT THIS SERIES. ....But after that, I realised that I knew very little about these parents of mine. They had been born about the start of the Twentieth Century, and they died in 1970 and 1980. For their last 50 years, I was old enough to speak with a bit of sense. I could have talked to them a lot about their lives. I could have found out about the times they lived in. But I did not. I know almost nothing about them really. Their courtship? Working in the pits? The Lock-out in the Depression? Losing their second child? Being dusted as a miner? The shootings at Rothbury? My uncles killed in the War? Love on the dole? There were hundreds, thousands of questions that I would now like to ask them. But, alas, I can't. It's too late.

Thus, prompted by my guilt, I resolved to write these books. They describe happenings that affected people, real people. The whole series is, to coin a modern phrase, designed to push your buttons, to make you remember and wonder at things forgotten. The books might just let nostalgia see the light of day, so that oldies and youngies will talk about the past and re-discover a heritage otherwise forgotten. Hopefully, they will spark discussions between generations, and foster the asking and answering of questions that should not remain unanswered.

Review Quotes

READERS' COMMENTS

Tom Lynch, Speers Point. Some history writers make the mistake of trying to boost their authority by including graphs and charts all over the place. You on the other hand get a much better effect by saying things like "he made a pile". Or "every one worked hours longer than they should have, and felt like death warmed up at the end of the shift." I have seen other writers waste two pages of statistics painting the same picture as you did in a few words.

Edna College, Auburn. A few times I stopped and sobbed as you brought memories of the postman delivering letters, and the dread that ordinary people felt as he neared. How you captured those feelings yet kept your coverage from becoming maudlin or bogged down is a wonder to me.

Betty Kelly, Wagga Wagga. Every time you seem to be getting serious, you throw in a phrase or memory that lightens up the mood. In particular, in the war when you were describing the terrible carnage of Russian troops, you ended with a ten-line description of how aggrieved you felt and ended it with "apart from that, things are pretty good here". For me, it turned the unbearable into the bearable, and I went from feeling morbid and angry back to a normal human being.

Alan Davey, Brisbane. I particularly liked the light-hearted way you described the scenes at the airports as American, and British, high-flying entertainers flew in. I had always seen the crowd behaviour as disgraceful, but your light-hearted description of it made me realise it was in fact harmless and just good fun.