BOOK REVIEWS
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Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives ~ inspiring stories from rural Australia
Australia is fond of nominating sports stars for heroism. People like bush nurse Margaret Carnegie-Smith are a good alternative. In the 1970s, the only medical person for a widespread community in Borroloola in NT, she lived in a mobile van, was permanently on call and treated everything from leprosy to complications of childbirth. Poets, actors and dancers from Fitzroy Crossing; winemakers from Margaret River WA; community and co-operative workers from Maleny, QLD: all rural stories, all written from the heart. The inspiring side of these people, many of them unsung heroes, speaks for itself.
Debra Adelaide, SMH 2001
Carroll's crisp writing captures the complex lives of two dozen Australians and their rural communities. Carroll's encounters with Aboriginal people show the size of the problems they face. Books like this sometimes fall into the 'dull but worthy' category. Not this one.
Mike Shuttleworth, West Australian 2001
This treasure trove of of stories is easily readable and totally uplifting. They are about real people, people whose stories would otherwise never have been told, except for the dedication, determination and imagination of Margaret Carroll. The voices of her people are clear and their experiences as diverse as their backgrounds.
Terry Underwood, Riveren Station NT, author of ‘In the Middle of Nowhere’, writing for Katherine Times, 2001.
One of the most enduring and worthwhile outcomes of our celebration of the Centenary of Federation has been the publication of historical, biographical and other works which give us a better understanding of our identity as a society and how we came to be as we are today. This book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, makes an unusual and particularly valuable contribution. Each of these stories is a manifestation of respect for the significance and dignity of each individual which is the most important characteristic of the society Federation brought into existence 100 years ago this year.
Sir Guy Green, Governor of Tasmania, launching Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives in Perth, Tasmania, 2001.
Debra Adelaide, SMH 2001
Carroll's crisp writing captures the complex lives of two dozen Australians and their rural communities. Carroll's encounters with Aboriginal people show the size of the problems they face. Books like this sometimes fall into the 'dull but worthy' category. Not this one.
Mike Shuttleworth, West Australian 2001
This treasure trove of of stories is easily readable and totally uplifting. They are about real people, people whose stories would otherwise never have been told, except for the dedication, determination and imagination of Margaret Carroll. The voices of her people are clear and their experiences as diverse as their backgrounds.
Terry Underwood, Riveren Station NT, author of ‘In the Middle of Nowhere’, writing for Katherine Times, 2001.
One of the most enduring and worthwhile outcomes of our celebration of the Centenary of Federation has been the publication of historical, biographical and other works which give us a better understanding of our identity as a society and how we came to be as we are today. This book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, makes an unusual and particularly valuable contribution. Each of these stories is a manifestation of respect for the significance and dignity of each individual which is the most important characteristic of the society Federation brought into existence 100 years ago this year.
Sir Guy Green, Governor of Tasmania, launching Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives in Perth, Tasmania, 2001.
The Man Who loved Crocodiles and stories of other Adventurous Australians
In telling these tales, and telling them so beautifully, Marg makes it impossible to feel anything but respect and love for these admirable ‘one-off’ souls. The stories of these Australians shine a bright light on the heart of our country’s identity. Our national spirit and strength are shown at their indomitable best through the eyes of every person chronicled here. I found myself on the verge of tears at times and laughing out loud at others, as I read these stories.
Foreword by Maggie Beer, 2010 Senior Australian of the Year
NSW Writers' Centre Review, 2012 - Narelle Scotford
This last book (of Marg Carroll's) in particular is a perfect companion for us
city folks who are apt to whinge a little and forget how our land was forged by such people as inhabit the pages of this extraordinary book. Open it up anywhere not only at the crocodile story, but maybe the one about the Camel Lady who rode a camel across the desert following in the tracks of Burke and Wills, or the Torres Strait Islander who dived for pearls and then became a national singing star, or the Czech immigrant who survived 13 Nazi prison camps through the power of meditation, or…..
She is the master of the first paragraph in all of her stories, immediately giving you a succinct word picture of the person and their character and whetting your appetite to learn more.
Novelists and short story writers need to take lessons from her. Take the first paragraph in her very first story: ‘You may not pick Heather Innes ─ slight in stature with short-cropped reddish hair, a cheeky grin and quick wit─as a champion sports woman, top pilot or formidable crime fighter. Her modesty and mastery of understatement ensure no hint of an illustrious past.’
Marg Carroll is also the master of the concluding paragraph.
She finishes her story of Back-country Milkman with the following: ‘He has experienced the three most significant events of the last century, the Great Depression, the fall of Singapore and the dropping of the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He had the longest milk run in Australia over three decades and he just signed up for another milk run, by which time he will be 96.'
Foreword by Maggie Beer, 2010 Senior Australian of the Year
NSW Writers' Centre Review, 2012 - Narelle Scotford
This last book (of Marg Carroll's) in particular is a perfect companion for us
city folks who are apt to whinge a little and forget how our land was forged by such people as inhabit the pages of this extraordinary book. Open it up anywhere not only at the crocodile story, but maybe the one about the Camel Lady who rode a camel across the desert following in the tracks of Burke and Wills, or the Torres Strait Islander who dived for pearls and then became a national singing star, or the Czech immigrant who survived 13 Nazi prison camps through the power of meditation, or…..
She is the master of the first paragraph in all of her stories, immediately giving you a succinct word picture of the person and their character and whetting your appetite to learn more.
Novelists and short story writers need to take lessons from her. Take the first paragraph in her very first story: ‘You may not pick Heather Innes ─ slight in stature with short-cropped reddish hair, a cheeky grin and quick wit─as a champion sports woman, top pilot or formidable crime fighter. Her modesty and mastery of understatement ensure no hint of an illustrious past.’
Marg Carroll is also the master of the concluding paragraph.
She finishes her story of Back-country Milkman with the following: ‘He has experienced the three most significant events of the last century, the Great Depression, the fall of Singapore and the dropping of the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He had the longest milk run in Australia over three decades and he just signed up for another milk run, by which time he will be 96.'
