Jackaroo
A Memoir
1st Edition
Published on 27. June 2011
288 pages
978-1-74253-355-1 (ISBN)
Description
From choirboy to cowboy . . .
In 1967, fresh from boarding school humiliations, and having lost his father to alcoholism, gangly teen Michael Thornton was packed off to a tough sheep and cattle station to work as a jackaroo. He was to learn the wool trade from the lamb up, under a boss legendary for working his farmhands in an almost military regimen.
Tasked with the dirty, disgusting and downright dangerous jobs, jackaroos are the dogsbodies of our farms. But at Habbies Howe, in central Victoria, somewhere between castrating lambs with his teeth and hauling backbreaking sacks of fertiliser for no obvious purpose, Michael discovered inner strength, and the friendship and male role models he'd craved.
He also earned respect - enough to later walk into a job with the nation's most famous farmer, the Defence Minister and future PM Malcolm Fraser.
In Jackaroo, Thornton recalls his years learning the ropes in an era when farm work was still done on horseback. Engaging, candid and often funny, his memoir reveals the hard working lives of the unsung all-rounders of the country.
'Engaging and energetic'
The Australian
In 1967, fresh from boarding school humiliations, and having lost his father to alcoholism, gangly teen Michael Thornton was packed off to a tough sheep and cattle station to work as a jackaroo. He was to learn the wool trade from the lamb up, under a boss legendary for working his farmhands in an almost military regimen.
Tasked with the dirty, disgusting and downright dangerous jobs, jackaroos are the dogsbodies of our farms. But at Habbies Howe, in central Victoria, somewhere between castrating lambs with his teeth and hauling backbreaking sacks of fertiliser for no obvious purpose, Michael discovered inner strength, and the friendship and male role models he'd craved.
He also earned respect - enough to later walk into a job with the nation's most famous farmer, the Defence Minister and future PM Malcolm Fraser.
In Jackaroo, Thornton recalls his years learning the ropes in an era when farm work was still done on horseback. Engaging, candid and often funny, his memoir reveals the hard working lives of the unsung all-rounders of the country.
'Engaging and energetic'
The Australian
More details
Person
Michael Thornton was a journalist at The Weekly Times and The Pastoral Review. He has been a jackaroo, fundraiser, boarding school housemaster, consultant, farmer, volunteer and author. He has written two books on fundraising.
