By Goya Dmytryshchak
Forty Hobsons Bay local identities, ranging from Australia’s first female prime minister to a young scientist trying to stop space junk collisions, have been interviewed for a book.
Julia Gillard and Brett Carter are the bookends to Altona & Surrounds: A Patchwork of Memories by Maureen Lane.
“Everything about Altona beguiled me,” Ms Gillard says in the book.
“The petrochemical complex others found daunting, I found intriguing.”
Lane, an Altona Laverton Historical Society member and historian, said she had approached a variety of people to document memories over many generations.
Greens Senator Janet Rice features in the book, but it’s not the story of a politician.
“It’s the story of a little girl growing up in Altona and it’s delightful,” Lane said.
Others include Imelda Hyde who went to Vietnam to adopt a baby while bombs were dropping and WWII nurse Ethel Muller who died this year aged 101.
Three Aboriginal women from Laverton tell their stories: Fay Van Ekeren, Janet Bakesi and Marlene Cameron.
There’s also well-known pharmacist Tom Sarros, builder Martin Van Noordenne, past historical society president Peter Weaver and even Lane and her husband David King.
“He tells the story of being a naughty biker in the ’60s, chasing girls,” Lane laughed.
Altona & Surrounds: A Patchwork of Memories is available at Altona Homestead, Louis Joel Arts and Community Centre or by emailing g.reilly@alhs.com.au or admin@ljac.com.au for $20 plus postage.
