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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I could not have completed this dissertation without the help and
encouragement I received during these many years of research work from my
supervisor Dr. John Cameron at the University of Western Sydney.
There are those too, in my elsewhere-place, whom I have met, imaginally,
who have assisted me and to whom great appreciation is due; to Carl Jung, to
Professor Harold Bloom at Yale University, to the Sufi poet, Rumi, D. H. Lawrence,
Primo Levi and Jorge Luis Borges and to Walt Whitman; all my calamus teachers.
I n the realm of place, my special thanks to my dear friend, John Love, who
all those years ago handed me a book on shamanism with the inscrutable comment,
“ ... You might like to read this”, and changed my life forever. My special thanks also
to Tom Keneally not only for allowing me to make him the subject of two studies but
also for his insight, warmth and kindness. Thanks also to David Malouf for
participating in my research and for his literally enchanting stories, especially An
I maginary Life. To Colleen McCullough for her valuable insights, her humour and
spontaneity. Then too there has been James Cowan, a writer of extraordinary
beautiful stories whom I one day hope to meet and to thank.
There are those also who, through their friendship and guidance, have had a
formative effect on me. During my early undergraduate years at the University of
New England, there was Sister Maureen Purcell and I an Grenfell. More recently the
shamans, Rabbi Yonassan Gershom and Maureen Roberts have taught me to see
beyond the realm of appearances. Thanks are also due to the late Rev Fr Austin Day
of Christ Church St Lawrence who, during his life was a guiding influence and also
Rev Fr Paul Hannah who taught me as a young social worker that the most
impoverished place “ ... may not be the Ritz, but for many it is home”. I owe much
to Professor James Tulip of Sydney University for his wisdom, patience and
friendship. To my former chief at WHO in Geneva, long-time friend and provider of
great encouragement, Professor Dr Manuel Carballo now Head of the I nternational
Centre for Migration and Health in Geneva.
I t is to my foster son Riza, to whom special thanks is due, not only for putting
up with a sometimes very tense and cranky father but for teaching me much about a
place called home. Finally, to the memory of my parents who taught me how to
listen for the magic in the words, “ ... once upon a time, in a place far, far away ...”.