'A First Nations Elder shares his extraordinary story of finding kindness in the midst of prejudice, and joy in living life to the full
'Welcome to my story. It's a simple story of a simple person, who's lived a long life now with some struggles along the way. I didn't learn a lot in school, not in the classroom, anyway. But I learned a lot from life.'
'Vince Copley was born on a government mission into poverty in 1936. By the time he was fifteen, five of his family had died. But at a home for Aboriginal boys, he befriended future leaders Charles Perkins, John Moriarty and Gordon Briscoe. They were friendships that would last a lifetime.
'Always remember you're as good as anybody else,' his mother, Kate, often told him. And he was, becoming a champion footballer and premiership-winning coach. But change was in the air, and Vince knew he had more to contribute. So he teamed up with Charlie Perkins, his 'brother' from the boys' home, to help make life better for his people. At every step, with his beloved wife, Brenda, Vince found light in the darkness, the friendly face in the crowd, the small moments and little things that make the world go round.
'In The Wonder of Little Things, Vince tells his story with humour, humility and wisdom. Written with his friend Lea McInerney over many cups of tea, it is an Australian classic in the making, a plain-speaking account of hardship, courage and optimism told without self-pity or big-noting.
'Vince's love of life will make you smile, his heartache will make you cry, and his determination to enjoy life in the face of adversity will inspire you to find the wonder in little things every day.'(Publication summary)
'A FEW WEEKS into the first draft of what eventually became The Wonder of Little Things, I said to my co-author, Vince Copley – whose life story it is – ‘I don’t know whether I can do this.’ This being to turn the many stories he was telling me into a book.
'On the other end of the phone, Vince – a Ngadjuri Elder – said, ‘I have every faith and trust in you, right. It doesn’t even exist that you’re not gonna do a good job.’' (Introduction)
'In his memoir’s final chapter, Vince Copley wonders: if the first legal marriage of an Aboriginal woman and a white man had been socially accepted in the 1850s, would his own wife have been spared being pushed to the end of the 1970s bank queue because she was with him, a blackfella? Would that real estate agent have considered their application instead of throwing it straight in the bin? Would their daughter have been spared the schoolyard bullying and their son the name-calling?' (Introduction)
'In his memoir’s final chapter, Vince Copley wonders: if the first legal marriage of an Aboriginal woman and a white man had been socially accepted in the 1850s, would his own wife have been spared being pushed to the end of the 1970s bank queue because she was with him, a blackfella? Would that real estate agent have considered their application instead of throwing it straight in the bin? Would their daughter have been spared the schoolyard bullying and their son the name-calling?' (Introduction)
'A FEW WEEKS into the first draft of what eventually became The Wonder of Little Things, I said to my co-author, Vince Copley – whose life story it is – ‘I don’t know whether I can do this.’ This being to turn the many stories he was telling me into a book.
'On the other end of the phone, Vince – a Ngadjuri Elder – said, ‘I have every faith and trust in you, right. It doesn’t even exist that you’re not gonna do a good job.’' (Introduction)
