Cirrus@Austlit

'In 1971, when I was teaching at St Mary’s School in Broome, the principal decided to set up after-school clubs for the children—all part of a process of keeping them out of mischief. As part of that venture, I established a club called Aboriginal Heroes. From memory, only a few children joined since most of the other clubs focused on sport and art. We met once a week and set out to make contact with these Indigenous leaders through writing to them and following their exploits in the press. I had just heard of Patrick Dodson. He was at the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart seminary at the time so the children had to take my word that he was indeed a hero, given that my criteria were based simply on the fact that he intended to be Australian’s first Indigenous priest. My criteria may have been narrow in conception, but my prediction that he would make a significant contribution to Indigenous affairs was not. This contribution is set out in Kevin Keeffe’s' Paddy’s road, published by Aboriginal Studies Press.' (Introduction)