Local writer and researcher Ian White is releasing this significant work in early November. Stoneman’s in Castlemaine will be stocking it and are accepting orders. Locals may remember Ian as the banjo player at some of our musical get-togethers with Maurie Gervasoni, myself and others. Well he’s not just a banjo player!
”Forty years since the passing of Paddy Compass Namadbara, his legacy still looms large amongst the people of western Arnhem Land. Ian White has dedicated decades to recording the story of Namadbara’s life and here he presents an extraordinary biography as told by the people of this region of the Northern Territory. The anecdotes about Namadbara’s exceptional powers as a ’clever man’ portray him as a community leader, teacher, sage, mystic, counsellor and healer. These are however more than just marvellous stories that defy explanation and evoke our wonder. The events of Namadbara’s life, described by so many witnesses from both sides of the cultural divide, and collated so respectfully in this book, are an ongoing challenge to how various fields of the social and cognitive sciences should deal with such matters.’ — Dr Murray Garde OAM, ANU”