Description - Flying Nun: And the Women of the West by Jeanne Ryckmans
'Thank goodness for Pope John Paul and the Second Vatican because wearing a long medieval-style habit complete with veil and stockings would hardly be the right outfit for climbing in and out of my Cessna three or four times a day in forty degree plus heat. Nor would it be suitable for attending the Birdsville races, helping a publican's wife pull beers in an outback pub or joining in the odd bit of boot scootin' and line dancing. 'Sister Anne Maree Jensen A baseball cap, riding boots and a Cessna aeroplane are not usually part of the image that comes to mind when we think of nuns - but then, Sister Anne Maree Jensen's 'Aerial Ministry' is not a conventional calling either. For the past ten years, Sister Anne Maree has been flying over some of the most remote parts of outback southwest Queensland, bringing companionship to the women who live in her bush parish. (Her parish includes more than 250,000 square kilometres of sheep and cattle stations, roughly the size of West Germany.) The stoic resilience of these women 'who battle against drought and loneliness in a harsh environment' provides the "Flying Nun" with the inspiration to pursue her unusual mission.
But the "The Flying Nun" is not the story of Sister Anne Maree alone. It is also the story of the 13 women to whom her life and work are devoted. With humour, fatalism and hope, these women of the west share their own experiences: solitude, happiness, tragedy, the battle that is everyday life in the middle of nowhere. Their stories bring alive the sense of communion and wonder which the bush never ceases to awaken in them. Inspired by the acclaimed documentary on Sister Ann Maree, "The Flying Nun" is the story of a true blue heroine, a blue stocking bush battler of the cloth, a woman who performs extraordinary feats in the name of God and humanity. Nuns usually invoke the image of wimples; Sally Field, the original flying nun, or Audrey Hepburn - but Sister Anne Maree is the antithesis. She looks like an airborne E. Annie Proulx! From The Drover's Wife through to Sara and Bonnie Henderson, Australian history is replete with the stories of remarkable women battling the odds in the harsh outback. Sister Anne Maree's life if the stuff of legend.
Combined with the 13 accounts of women who live in her parish, "The Flying Nun" provides a glimpse into a world of resilient and courageous women, of enduring relationships and of Australian lives barely understood and rarely seen by our largely urban populace. Author biography, Jeanne Ryckmans spent six years in Paris where she worked for French television. In 1993, she returned to Australia to work for SBS TV as a reporter. In 1995, she produced and directed the acclaimed TV documentary about Sister Anne Maree called "The Flying Nun", which provided the starting point for this book. Jeanne lives in Sydney. Sister Anne Maree was Australian Achiever of the Year in 1995. Sister Wendy, Mary Loudon's Nun's Unveiled, Sara and Bonnie Henderson and Caroline Jones - Sister Ann Maree's story is all of these and more - religion, spirituality and determination all rolled into one. In a time of declining faith and lack of belief in traditional religion, readers are captivated by those who live within a strong religious framework, and by people who work ceaselessly and selflessly for others.
"The Flying Nun" is also a glimpse into the lives of rural women - how they live in and survive the rigours of the outback. Sister Anne Maree will be available for all publicity for "The Flying Nun". The women interviewed will also be available for interviews for the book.
Buy Flying Nun: And the Women of the West by Jeanne Ryckmans from Australia's Online Independent Bookstore, BooksDirect.
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