Urgent

(Paperback)

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Description

I'd like to tell the story of a patient, Albert Thompson. I met many people like Albert, who was stolen from his family at the age of four and was unable to resolve his loss. One day, I was called to Albert's isolated shack at the end of a bumpy dirt road though a dense rainforest. When I arrived, I found him dead, curled up awkwardly on his stretcher bed, a large envelope marked 'urgent' in his arms. I am sending you a copy of the extraordinary contents. Should I write to his daughters What would you say to them What would you do' URGENT asks you to step into Albert Thompson's fictional shoes, and imagine life from the point of view of his daughters, who grew up never knowing they had sisters. One daughter did not even know she had an Aboriginal father. With contributions from young indigenous and non-indigenous people, and based on true experiences, URGENT is a powerful account of identity, forgiveness and understanding. 'I have a lot of questions I want to ask these strangers ...my sisters.'

Author Bio

ABOUT THE EDITOR Dr Leanne Rowe is a general practitioner and a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne Department of General Practice and the Monash University Department of Psychological Medicine. She has worked extensively with young people, particularly in the Geelong area in Victoria, and is highly respected for her work in adolescent health and education. Recently the Wathaurong Aboriginal Cooperative allowed her to work with a group of young people from their community to produce URGENT. A core group of teenagers, Joleen Ryan, Megan Torpey, Julia Torpey, Tegan Watson and Zac Brennan, wrote the story and encouraged more than twenty other young indigenous and non-indigenous people to contribute personal accounts of their lives as well as poetry, artwork and photography.