7 November 1999
November 1999
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Transcript
This transcript was typed from a recording of the program. The ABC cannot guarantee its complete accuracy because of the possibility of mishearing and occasional difficulty in identifying speakers.
November 1 - 26
Romulus, my father
by Raimond Gaita
Read by the author
"In 1950, when I was four, they emigrated on an assisted passage on the migrant ship, SS Hersey. On the evening of their leaving a women read my father's future in her cards. Throughout his life he was disturbed by her prophesy and often referred to it. She said he was destined for a journey across a large water, that he would lose his wife and suffer greatly."
Raimond Gaita's extended elegy for his father, Romulus, tells their extraordinary story. After settling in central Victoria, the romance of the migrant success in Australia did not come to pass for Romulus. He was forced to cope with his wife's deteriorating illness, her chronic unfaithfulness and her neglect of Raimond. Tragic events occurred, but throughout, Romulus remained steady, his honesty and compassion giving Raimond the strength to accept their circumstances.
Romulus, My Father won the 1998 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction. Raimond Gaita is a philosopher, who has written many books, including Good and Evil: An Absolute Conception. He has recently published A Common Humanity: Thinking about Love and Truth and Justice (Reed Books).
Published by Text Publishing and adapted by Kate Bochner
Sound engineers: Nic Mierisch and Russell Thomson
Producer: Kate Bochner
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