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A Brisbane writer and poet.
Patty Beecham is a wife, and mother of two, and grandmother of one, and spends her time between living in Brisbane and Maleny.
Her latest book is a memoir on her early Rockhampton childhood: Growing Up, Rocky.

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SYNOPSIS
We follow the unusual family upbringing on an aboriginal mission as the family of five children follow the parents to Rockhampton when the father studies to become an Anglican priest at 42.
This is the true story of the youngest daughter of a Sydney couple living at Lockhart River Mission for 9 years, raising their children within an Aboriginal village of five tribes.
Conceived on Cape York, and finally returning to Rockhampton as a young child, a shocking series of family tragedies leaves her feeling abandoned at twelve.
A family tragedy with the shocking death of brother Chris, 2 days before a family wedding, sees the upheaval of family life.
Patty feels abandoned and has to educate and raise herself as well as learn to iron a cassock!
Patty brings herself up with her distracted parents, marries young and then flees a violent marriage, and dreams of a bigger life than what was offered in her sleepy country town. Life became a series of ground breaking adventures, and we follow her turbulent relationships and jobs, learning how to survive.
Share her adventures in this gentle, humorous and insightful memoir.
SUMMARY
This is an important personal story of a turbulent political time in the early 1960’s with life on Lockhart River Mission and the changing times within the community. A gentle reminiscing told through the protagonist Patty as she recounts her upbringing, and the difficulties of a family learning to live under the one roof.
Patty’s three older siblings attended boarding school returning for only 6 weeks each year. Life on the Mission was also fragmented with the father out to sea for 6 weeks at a time on the pearling luggers. The first time Patty lived with her entire family was when she was four years old!
The story notes the changing society with television and the Pill, and how a family struggle emotionally when the younger brother, a talented self-taught artist, is tragically killed two days before a family wedding.
Patty’s mother buys a corner shop at Keppel Sands, a small seaside community 40 kms from Rockhampton, and Patty has to learn to cope with school bullies in her first year of High School, and helping her father within the small, rowdy church community.
Rockhampton people still remember with great fondness Canon John Warby and Mrs Bunty Warby, as leading public figures in the small town. The group of people on the Facebook group ‘Rockhampton: Remember When’, encouraged Patty to tell her own story, and without their gentle and persistent encouragement, this book would never have been written.
Canon Warby was a Queenslander of the Year 1987 and received an OAM for his work with the Indigenous, in later years.
Audio now available from:
https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9798823439763-growing-up-rocky
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/growing-up-rocky-patty-beecham/1142961789/
https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/620742999/Growing-Up-Rocky
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/growing-up-rocky-patty-beecham/1142961789
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/audiobook/growing-up-rocky
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/
Amazon Audible and iTunes coming very soon, keep checking their sites.
Digital now available from Amazon
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
I’m happily married, the mother of our two adult sons, and spend my retirement living between Brisbane and Maleny. I am already writing the next 40 years of my life as a follow-up Memoir, and I suggest you wear your seatbelt! I have always written and since retiring, have published my first poetry collection: The Poetry of Patty Beecham, The Light between Breath.’
My poetry has been published in the international magazine Prism, winning several awards including ‘The Professor Bruce Dawe, AO, Patronal Prize’. I have had articles published in the Courier Mail newspaper, ABC Brisbane and Crikey.com.au.
A second collection of poetry: These Days I live in Brissy, was launched on the 30th of August at the Beerwah Library’s inaugural Storytellers Festival. I also enjoy writing children’s books, travel, and wine in that order. I was Australia’s first Roving Reporter for ABC Breakfast Radio 6124QR, and the first Funeral Photographer in Australia.

My second poetry collection: These Days I live in Brissy. A collection of words and love letters to the ordinary.
“I love to find beauty in the ordinary, and mundane. We are all a week from our own funeral, so cherish every day. Look for the Light.” Buy it here!
Patty Beecham.
Call me on 0417 887316 to discuss your needs, or email me.