Ballina Boy Relives Memories of His Hometown and Favourite Doctor
Life in the 1950’s Ballina captured in newly released memoir
Release date to be advised
Brisbane, QLD, Australia – Taking readers back to half a century ago, author Roger KA Allen relives his unforgettable childhood and pays tribute to the most dominant person in his life. In Ballina Boy: A child’s odyssey through the 1950s, his newly released book published through Xlibris, he divulges relevant moments of his childhood spent in his hometown and while savouring the rewards of being his father’s son.
Ballina Boy captures the author’s childhood in Ballina in the 1950s. Through vivid narration, Allen reminisces his adventure on the bustling Richmond River, his fascination for his father’s medical practice, and the years that offered a way of life that he loved and that exists no longer. This colourful memoir gives a glimpse of the demanding life of a country doctor, who in this case was extraordinary because of his classical background. Like his father, the author became a doctor and thus, he provides in this journal some medical insights as the story unfolds. Along the way, readers will see why one man believes that Ballina, in the fifties, was the perfect setting for an idyllic childhood, though overall they were tough times and not necessarily better than now; just different.
“I wrote this story for many reasons: as a historical record; to preserve my family history; but most of all to share with others today what childhood was like in Australia in the fifties,” discloses the author.
Wrapped with humour and nostalgia, Ballina Boy: A child’s odyssey through the 1950s endearingly reminds people of what childhood was like half a century ago. As well, it provides insights into the current society using the yardstick of the more rigid social structure of the fifties and shows how medicine was practised and how both medicine and nursing have changed – not always for the better.
About the Author
The son of a country doctor and classicist, Roger Allen inherited his father’s love of medicine and languages. After graduating from the University of Queensland, Allen specialised in chest diseases and sleep medicine in Melbourne and became a recognised authority on Sarcoidosis (www.sarcoidosis.com.au). He is currently in private practice at the Wesley Medical Centre, Brisbane, and he also teaches medical students. Allen’s interests include family, sailing, military history, medical research, and writing. Interested parties may visit www.ballinaboy.com for more information on the book.
BALLINA BOY * by Roger KA Allen
A child’s odyssey through the 1950s
- Paperback ISBN: 978.1.4535.98.53.5
- Hardback ISBN: 978.1.4535.9854.2
- eBook ISBN: 97831.4535.9531.2
The book will be available at www.Xlibris.com, www.amazon.com and www.ballinaboy.com
I for one can hardly wait to purchase this book.Having read the categories, I love the way the Author Roger Allen has written, and in particular his feelings about the family dog Merlin and other.
I will certainly purchase the hardback as this I feel would be a book that our child could also read,appreciate and keep. Great to gain some more knowledge of how times were for some.
I know I loved reading the book that was written about my own Great Grandfather.
Hope that the hardback is out before Christmas,what a great gift for many.
Comment by Mrs Robyn Papas — December 5, 2010 @ 8:09 am