I am Melba – how a Melbourne girl defied her father and left her husband to become the most famous singer of the age. Growing up in Melbourne, Nellie Mitchell showed musical promise and dreamed of fame, but her father had more orthodox plans in mind. Early marriage took her to the Queensland cane-fields – but her ambitions remained, and she soon fled to London, trusting in talent and luck to get her by. Within a few years, reborn as Nellie Melba, she was performing to overflowing concert halls, hobnobbing with royalty and collaborating with Europe’s most renowned musicians. [click to continue…]
Biography
Edith Piaf was one of the most greatly loved singers of the twentieth century.
As she moved from her youth singing in the streets to the glamour of the Paris music-halls, Piaf formed lasting friendships with such figures as Maurice Chevalier, Jean Cocteau and Marlene Dietrich; she wrote many of her own songs, aided the Resistance in the Second World War, and mentored younger singers like Yves Montand and Charles Aznavour. [click to continue…]
They don’t make politicians like ‘Jack’ Brookfield anymore. From mining underground in Broken Hill he ‘rose like a meteor in public life’ to be possibly the most extreme anti-politician ever to be elected in this country. The Great War and the years that followed saw unprecedented political turmoil in Australia and Brookfield was in the thick of it. [click to continue…]
In A Prescription for Change: The Terry White Story, veteran journalist Tony Koch colourfully charts the drive, integrity and family support that have guided White through a fascinating life in business and politics.
Growing up in a poor family, Terry White showed ambition from a young age, enrolling himself in a private school – initially without his parents’ knowledge – to receive a better education. The young pharmacy graduate endured 73 interviews before he found a pharmacist who would waive the £20 apprenticeship fee – and White has never looked back. [click to continue…]
Kevin Rudd emerged after a period of prolonged instability and internal strife within the federal ALP to establish himself as a popular leader who could unify his party and mount a real challenge to John Howard. [click to continue…]
Sophie’s Journey traces the path of this remarkable young girl. It is told through the words of the many people who have helped her, supported her and loved her – friends and family, hospital staff, emergency workers and high-profile supporters. [click to continue…]
Robert Helpmann achieved so much in the arts in one life that he should be more highly regarded in Australia than he is—but then, he didn’t play cricket, he danced. [click to continue…]
Back in the 1940s life was very different. On leaving school, teenagers were expected to get a good, steady job but Melbourne school friends Wendy Law and Shirley Duncan wanted to travel. [click to continue…]
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith is one of Australia?s most loved heroes. [click to continue…]
Fingleton was an outstanding opening batsman with a reputation for fearlessness against the most hostile and dangerous opening attacks. [click to continue…]
