Name Lyn james
Subject: A reallife adventure story. Title “We and the Baby”. Published in 1929.
Postcode: 2073
Visit Time: 21/10/2004 10:46 PM

Remark
Two young men have the most incredible journey right up the east coast of Australia to Cape York in a Baby Austin Car – the total cost of oil and spirit for the whole trip was 12 pounds nineteen shillings and three pence. I first read this book when I was ten and have never forgotten that experience. It is inspiring to say the least and it re-enforces the notion that human beings can achieve whatever they set their sights on if they have the courage to do so.

I also have a copy of “Reach for the Sky” signed by Douglas Bader, when I met him at Long Reef Beach on 4 November l956 at a Surf Carnival held in his honour.
To see him walking along the sand in black leather shoes with consumate ease was just a truly magic moment in my life.

I think Lyn is the most optimistic of all three people. She firmly believes that the human race can achieve anything so long as we work together and collectively. The last two things are challenging but I think Lyn might be onto something. We just need to pick up the pieces and perhaps not build structures like this skyscraper but rather move in a direction that doesn’t doom us.

Name: fledgeling
Subject: Fear of death
Postcode: 2602
Visit Time: 19/10/2004 4:02 PM

Remark
I used to fear dying. Then I read Ivan Illich’s _Limits to Medicine_, a book giving a history of the effects (and frequent ineffectiveness) of Western medicine. In a chapter on Western attitudes to death through the ages, Illich describes the medieval practice of dancing with Death on graves, which illustrated a very different attitude to it from our own.

But what affected me most was Illich’s description of the origin of the vampire myth in the discovery of bloodied hands on some exhumed corpses. What had occurred on occasion was that someone had been buried while still alive; had resuscitated and tried to scrabble his or her way out of the coffin; and had subsequently expired, leaving behind the bloodened fingertips suggestive of some gruesome after-death predation.

Once I’d read this, I realised that my own fear of death had arisen from some brush with these stories of people buried alive: that in fact my fear of death had been a fear of being buried alive and finding myself doomed to suffocate. With that realisation, my fear of death evaporated.

My fear of dying gruesomely, painfully, is not lessened; and my hunger to enjoy life and live it fully is undiminished; but the process of dying and the state of being dead no longer hold any fear for me in themselves.

As well, the book itself was tremendously informative and a very powerful read!

Prior to reading the book the person was so caught up in the fear of process of death. It’s almost as if the person was not ready to continue with anything in life. This book changed all this. It has allowed the person to see things from a different perspective and have greater value on life.
Name: Lisa
Subject: Anne changed my life
Postcode: 4066
Visit Time: 16/10/2004 7:18 PM

Remark
When I was about 10 my grandmother gave me ‘Anne of the Island’ for my birthday, one of the famous ‘Anne’ series by L.M.Montgomery. I loved this book in which Anne went to university so much that I spent ages searching for the other books of the series. Astonishingly they were out of print at the time. They were even unavailable in Canada, L.M. Montgomery’s homeland. My parents took me there when I was 11 and I am afraid I spent far too much time searching for the ‘Anne’ books rather than noticing the beautiful countryside.

Anne’s sunny personality, optimism, strong values and ambition had a big influence on my life. I can even say that I owe my Arts degree and major in English Literature to Anne because I wanted to be just like her! I was very disappointed that I didn’t do as well as she did in my studies!
My niece also loved the ‘Anne’ books so I was glad to be able to pass on these truly magical books to her.

Anne when she was younger was so caught up in the search she ignored the journey. This is shown by what she thinks she sees in the first glass. She now view sees many attributes through Anne that she tried to achieve and that she regards highly. She then hope to one day pass these values on. I believe this is what kind of thinking that needs to be done to be optimistic on sustainability.