Scott Eathorne Quikmark Media
Do you remember what happened the year you were born? Most of us don’t, but author Ron Williams can help answer this for those born between 1939 and 1968. Ron has spent the last fourteen years trawling through newspapers and books, researching and compiling thirty books covering Australia’s social history for each of the thirty years.
Each ‘Born in…’ year-book looks at the key newsworthy events that happened that year, providing a unique insight into Australian social history as told by the public and media. Ron says that the series was created not only for nostalgic reasons, but to spark conversation. “The whole series is designed to push your buttons,” Ron says, “to make you remember and wonder at things forgotten. The books might just let nostalgia see the light of day, so that oldies and youngies will talk about the past and re-discover a heritage otherwise forgotten. Hopefully, they will spark discussions between generations, and foster the asking and answering of questions that should not remain unanswered.”
Ron’s first three books in the series, Born in 1946, Born in 1956 and Born in 1966 (for those big 0 celebrations), are released in bookstores nationally in November, Born in 1965 in December, and he will then release ten a year until all titles are available. The ‘Born in…’ series is an important celebration of the past, covering the biggest social changes Australia has ever seen.
Newcastle-based Ron Williams is available for interview. He is a retired teacher, mathematician, political scientist, farmer and writer. He has a BA from Sydney, and a Masters in Social Work and a PhD in Political Science from Hawaii. To get the material for the books, Ron worked his way through newspapers, magazines, books, and other sources day by day until he came up with most of the major events and ideas, and trivia, of those years.
