Born at the Right Time: A memoir

(Paperback)

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Ron McCallum has been blind from birth. When he was a child, many blind people spent their lives making baskets in sheltered workshops, but Ron's mother had other ideas for her son. She insisted on treating him as normally as possible.

In this endearing memoir, Ron recounts his social awkwardness and physical mishaps, and shares his early fears that he might never manage to have a proper career, find love or become a parent. He has achieved all this and more, becoming a professor of law at a prestigious university, and chairing a committee at the United Nations.

Ron's glass is always half full. He has taken advantage of every new assistive technology and is in awe of what is now available to allow him and other blind people to realise their potential. His is a life richly lived, by a man who remains open to all people from all walks of life.

'Ron McCallum's life story is both fascinating and inspiring.' - Julian Morrow, The Chaser

'A moving book on the life of a brilliant man who often "saw" the needs of our world more clearly than the sighted people around him.' - The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, Past Justice of the High Court of Australia

'In this warm, wise and witty memoir, he makes us see his remarkable life.' Deborah Glass OBE, Victorian Ombudsman

'Ron has lived through a period of major changes in society, technology and the lives of people with disabilities. His description of his life full of challenges and his many successes is inspiring.' Maryanne Diamond AO, former President of the World Blind Union

Author Bio

Ron McCallum AO is Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Sydney, the first totally blind person to be appointed to a full professorship at any university in Australia. He has been chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Geneva, has received a Centenary Medal for his work, and was the 2011 Senior Australian of the Year.