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The Hop About
A man, an amputee, a dual amputee, wanders the West alone on half of a foot to discover what life has to offer. He takes off, running the only way he still knows how, in a car. A car procured from selling his prosthetic leg (the expensive one) on eBay.This true tale follows him on an adventure to angelic views in Zion National Park, to the top of the world in Death Valley, to mingling with the rainbow people, to pushing himself around in a wheelchair on the streets of Las Vegas, Nevada. The story turns back to how he found himself ‘hopping’ about and the drug addiction which caused it.While purposely estranged from his family, he learns mingling with others to accept differences and to resist judgement. Also, the deep importance of family. And most importantly that ‘we are not defined by our mistakes’.
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Whatever It Takes
In 1915, the world is in turmoil. A war, the likes of which has never been seen, involves much of the known world. An Englishman, John Norton Griffiths, proposes using miners to tunnel under the enemy lines and destroy them from below. Once his idea is accepted, other countries of the Empire decide to raise similar tunnelling companies. Canada, New Zealand and Australia provide companies of men, drawn from mining and trades backgrounds, to assist in the defeat of an aggressive enemy, intent on domination.
These men are asked to do the unthinkable, in less than satisfactory settings. They dig long tunnels and blow up hundreds of men at a time, whilst all the time, not knowing how close the enemy was to them, trying to do the same thing. For these men it was a war in the dark, a war of nerves. Some held, some did not.
We follow the life of one man through his wars, the one he is fighting without and the one he is fighting within, whilst at the same time, he falls in love, however improbable it may seem. We experience how the decisions of one person can continue to impact several generations after.
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The Gift of Biography
Seize the day!
Repay the gift of your life by helping loved ones record the story of theirs.
Everyone has at least one story to tell – the story of their life. Once written, it is there for all time, a permanent record that will fascinate future generations, and give joy and peace to vulnerable people who desperately want to leave their life story behind for their descendants but are unable to write it themselves.
Statistics certify that 80% of Australians, and most English-speaking countries, give to charities annually, and this is one of the most rewarding services of all, for both parties!
Apostle’s advice remains current to this day: “It is more blessed to give than to receive”. Having found your own identity, spiritual satisfaction, and peace-with-self, you can give your time and skills to help people record their life story and attain self-esteem, self-discovery, and self-healing.
The Gift of Biography has been written to firstly teach you the skills and rubrics required to become a volunteer biographer, and there are exercise chapters for you to learn how to write a mini biography of your own. Taking on the role of ‘Director’, you will guide the Sessions, translate the recordings, and ultimately produce a pre-agreed tome of your loved-one’s biography. He or she will become your ‘Client’, from the first Session you conduct to the handing over of their most treasured gift.
If you are seeking a new and rewarding purpose in life, it doesn’t come better than this.
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Otto Papesch
Otto Papesch was my father. I was four years old when he died. I asked myself for years what kind of a human being he was. I have attempted to paint a picture of that handsome, charismatic, cultivated, professional chemical engineer, enthusiastic sportsman, photographer and family man by basing myself on the vast correspondence that still exists, his diary of 1917, stories about him from my mother and grandparents and the innumerable photos he took over the years. This has been an attempt to describe his prominent characteristics but also shed light on his dilemmas and the contradictions in his personality and thereby to describe the important events of his short life. Would his destiny have been different had he been born a year later?
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More in Hope Than Glory
Football is a game that is loved throughout the world at every level. It’s a game that is all-encompassing whether it be the enjoyment of a kick about in the local park or the magnificent spectacle of a World Cup final. Well, this is a football story that lies somewhere between those two extremes, and to be honest more towards the bottom end of the spectrum.
This is a light-hearted true story of a young lad who used to walk four miles to the ground of the team he loved for every home game, and then grew up to become its chairman. It tells of the many highs and even more lows of running a lower league football club. It recounts the hopes and aspirations of every football supporter, followed by the inevitable kick-in-the-stomach feeling when it all falls down. It’s about love and passion for football in a proud northern town.
More in Hope Than Glory is the story of how what was once regarded as one of the most unsuccessful league football teams suddenly and dramatically became a little less unsuccessful.
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Life After Reconstruction
Life After Reconstruction is my story after genital reconstructive surgery. It follows the events of what happened in my life after I wrote my first book, Wings for the Butterfly, published in Germany and in Poland. After the book came out, I thought I would be famous on the spot. Instead, I ended up in a worse situation than I was in; from living in my own flat to being in a refugee home. In the refugee home, which was not supportive for the process of sexual healing after reconstruction, I met up with other forms of traumas, perhaps worse than my own. The result of the hostile environment in the refugee home was the tension that heightened the already frightened sexual restoration, leading to numbness once again and even more rage which eventually became uncontrollable. In order to understand myself better, I became involved with trying to understand the people I came to live with, trying to understand their problems, to the point of understanding that we are all looking for pure love that was denied to us in the formative years.
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Hottentot Venus – The Story of Saartjie Baartman
Step into the captivating life of Saartjie Baartman, an ordinary and curious 18-year-old whose dreams led her from the familiar shores of Cape Town to the distant lands of England and Paris. Little did she know that her voyage would take a tragic turn, transforming her life into a harrowing tale of exploitation and dehumanization.
In this powerful biography, Saartjie’s true story is finally given a voice, allowing her to recount her experiences firsthand. From the initial promise of work as a nursery maid to the shocking reality of being displayed as an object of desire in London and Paris, her journey is one of heartbreak, resilience, and survival.
As you delve into Saartjie’s own words, you will bear witness to the fear and anguish of a displaced soul in foreign lands. Her poignant narrative sheds light on the struggles faced by countless individuals torn from their homelands, forced to navigate the trials of being foreign nationals in strange and unwelcoming territories.
Supported by meticulous research and accurate references, this book also draws a striking parallel to the present day, where the erosion of human rights continues to fuel the alarming rise of human trafficking and bonded labor. Saartjie’s story serves as a timeless reminder of the enduring fight for justice and equality, resonating even more powerfully in a world that grapples with these same issues two centuries later.
Hottentot Venus is a tribute to a remarkable woman who suffered the indignities of exploitation, but whose legacy fuels the ongoing struggle for dignity and human rights. Her voice, once silenced, now echoes through these pages, urging us to confront our past, understand our present, and forge a more compassionate future.
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Holloway
Holloway was a closed category A prison supposedly for women who had committed murders and were considered to be dangerous criminals. What was unknown was that many women were placed in Holloway due to the abuses and crimes related to and should often have been blamed on men. Historically such injustices and inequality were often linked to cases such as the Suffragette movement and the Irish Republicans, however, in modern times women found themselves to be remanded or imprisoned in Holloway for petty crimes, as a place of detention when there were immigration issues and for reasons that were beyond the understanding of those involved. Here are the stories of women who were abused by the laws and society one hoped were there to protect rather than punish them further. These remarkable women formed deep friendships, loved and cared for each other despite being thrown into a place of fear and intimidation.
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Hard Luck Motty
You will not be able to put this book down once you start!
Hard Luck Motty has been through everything you can imagine.
See if you can find someone who can top my life adventures!
The famous people I have met and spent time with: Hollywood superstars, sporting greats.
The family tragedies along the way.
The excitement and thrills.
The silliness.
The lessons I have learnt the hard way, in my working, sporting and fun life.
You need to read this book.
