ABOUT THIS BLOG
The stories Vince tells in The Wonder of Little Things aren’t everything that he remembered. In the book’s Afterword, I write that if we’d included all the memories he told me it would have been bigger than War and Peace, and with far more characters.
Vince and I wove lots of historical details into his story. I’d research libraries, museums, state records and genealogy sites for information on the different eras related to Vince’s life. Then I’d send Vince what I found. He’d read it all and together we’d work out what to include. The historical details often sparked more memories for Vince, and we’d stitch them in too.
We also decided to have a separate section with a potted history of the events and policies that shaped the lives of Vince and other First Nations people. From this research I came to know about some other friends of Vince’s who played big roles in South Australia’s history. Standouts were Aunty Gladys Elphick, Ruby Hammond, and Maude and George Tongerie, as we added extra stories about them at the end of the book.
And so the book was made.
From time to time I’ll pop short posts on this blog. If you’d like to ask something about the book, or how Vince and I made it, send through your questions via the Contact page. Vince’s family and I would love to hear from you.
Happy reading.
Vince and Lea with the very first draft. [Photo by Vince’s niece Kathy Sutton]
© 2023 This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Acknowledgement: Vince’s continuing legacy has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.