My Life as a Jew
My Life As A Jew
My book is six months old. It was published in Australia on October 3 and launched at a bookshop in St Kilda on October 5. Lots of people came along. More than 100 I reckon. It was a festive occasion. Two days later came the Hamas massacres.
I have written scores of articles since October 7. Most of them were about journalism and the way journalism, in my view, was changing—for the worse—and about how the ethical principles which I thought defined good journalism were being traduced.
I have spoken to many hundreds of people, at Jewish and non-Jewish events and given that I am not too modest, many people told me that my book resonated with them, that the story of my life as a Jew had parallels in the story of their lives. Jews and non-Jews.
But I have not appeared at any of the big writers’ festivals, not Adelaide Writers’ Week for reasons that are not a mystery, though I did write to Louise Adler and ask to be put on the program and in response I was told by the program director that Book Week was full of writers and therefore there was no room for me. Nor was I invited to the Sydney or Melbourne writers’ festivals. Ok, yes, lots of writers don’t make festivals so okay, perhaps in the estimation of these festival directors, I had written an uninteresting book and had nothing interesting to say.
I was however invited to the Manly Writers’ Festival and it was there at this lovely and lively festival a few weeks ago, that the ABC recorded my session with former ABC senior journalist and foreign correspondent Michael Brissenden. It was broadcast on Radio National’s Big Ideas program a couple of days ago. I think it is a good interview. The questions are sometimes tough. Sometimes they imply things that I do not agree with but so what? He made me think. He asked questions I had not previously been asked.
I am posting the Big Ideas podcast here. Six months after my book was published. There have been horrifying developments in the war in Gaza since the podcast but what I say in the interview remains how I feel and what I think. Six months after my book My Life as a Jew was published.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/bigideas/michael-gawenda-jewishness-australian-left-israel-gaza/103551574
What a pity they didn't take you on for AWW you would have been a good change from the flood of ABC staff and ex staffers. However I guess the pro Palestinian mob would have done their best to shut you down. It was good to see some leadership at WOMAD where a prominent supporter of Israel was not dumped from the program despite significant agitation.
I'm reading your book now, about halfway through, and wanted to say how powerful and extremely timely this book is, and how prophetic (sadly). I'm not an expert on anything, nor am I of Jewish background, but I am so worried about antisemitism being on the rise here in Melb. I'm glad to have your book to get me thinking more deeply about this issue. Also, reading about your experience editing The Age is fascinating. You prob don't remember, but I was very lucky to interview you many years ago when I was a young journo student in Melb, and you were at the Age. Around 1994, maybe? I was just doing an assignment for RMIT and you gave me your time and answered my (prob not very incisive) questions. You were, it seemed to me, an old-school gruff, tough newspaperman in those days. When I told another student I'd interviewed Michael Gawenda, and I don't think he was all that impressed with me, she told me that you were a very good, kind person, a deep thinker. I remember her saying that to me some 30 years ago.