Books in my life
The first talk in the series "Books in My Life", sponsored by the Friends of the ANU Library and University House, was given by the Hon John Kerin on May 13.   Mr Kerin, the former Treasurer and Minister for Primary Industry, started in half-joking vein: "You really wish me to bare my soul. The choice of books is so personal, reading is so multi-directed, that I will provide psychologists, if not psychiatrists, in the audience with a rich lode." He began reading as a boy in the 1940s on his family farm (which did not have electricity), with a sparse but typical diet of boys' books of the period. When he left school at 15 he passed on to the Huxleys (Julian and Aldous), Bertrand Russell, and William Sargant's Battle for the Mind. As an external student at UNE he read more philosophy (though "the Philosophy year wrecked my writing style - from then on I qualified everything"). He also read the two books which changed his life: Cecil Woodham-Smith's The Reason Why, and Charles A. Fisher's South East Asia. From one he learnt of the stupidity of war, and from the other of the history of Vietnam - just as the Vietnam War was becoming a political issue in Australia. He soon joined the ALP, and read Senator Albright's The Arrogance of Power. His political future was now determined. John Kerin finished: "I have read a lot. I have read everything written by my political colleagues (except Graham Rich-ardson's book - on principle), but the books I have enumerated are the ones that stick with me the most". The second speaker in the "Books in My Life" series was Jack Waterford, the editor of The Canberra Times, on June 10. A report of his talk will follow in a future edition. For details on the series contact University House. Bob Barnes