Shortlisted (Individual) : Centre for Australian Cultural Studies Award 2001
Two of my uncles, one a `bit of a lad' and the other newly married and looking forward to the birth of his first child, died in their 20s as a result of car accidents. Their deaths permanently scarred members of my maternal family, who dealt with their losses in different ways, alcoholism and stoicism being but two. So I found reading Rose Boys, with its story of Robert Rose, left a quadriplegic after a car accident, and his family an extremely moving experience on a personal level. No doubt many readers will have the same reaction. Robert, a sportsman who played Sheffield Shield cricket and VFL (as it was then) football, was the son of legendary Collingwood player and coach Bob Rose and part of the famous Victoria Park-based football tribe. After his accident, which occurred in 1974, he was confined to a wheelchair or hospital bed for 25 years, totally dependent on others for most of his needs. This memoir, written by poet and publisher Peter Rose, Robert's brother, is a candid and insightful account of how society, and the communities and family units within it, cope (and in some cases don't cope) with major disability. Reading of the courage, good humour and compassion of not only Robert, but of his parents, ex-wife, daughter and many friends, was an uplifting, sometimes confronting and highly rewarding experience. Virginia Maxwell is a Melbourne-based editor and reviewer. C. 2001 Thorpe-Bowker and contributors
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