Life and Times on Sydney Buses

by Mary-Jane Field, Lucienne West (Illustrator)

Overview

A charming collection of little stories collected over the half-decade ending 2020 about people and happenings involving Sydney buses. Some are humorous and heart-warming, others are salutary lessons about life, and one or two are sad commentaries on the human condition. All are accounts of things the author observed over a period of several years when she was a frequent bus traveler.

Most of the stories involve travel from the Eastern suburbs to the Sydney city centre, showcasing historic landmarks along the way. They shine a light on the wonderful variety of people living in Sydney who travel on the buses - for work, university, tourism, school, shopping, or just for an outing.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780648759300
Publisher:	JSE Publications
Publication date:	10/01/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	52
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Mary-Jane Field is a journalist and translator, as well as a songwriter, singer and poet in the South American and Australian folk traditions. Most of her childhood and early years were spent traveling in Europe and Latin America accompanying her father, who was a diplomat. She speaks French and is bilingual in Spanish and English. She moved to Sydney over forty years ago, after receiving her B A. and her M. A. from universities in the United States. Before coming to Australia she spent three years as news editor of a local newspaper in South Carolina. When she came to Sydney she brought with her her love of music and her interest in teaching. For many years she was involved in early childhood education, as well as in New South Wales primary schools with a multicultural music program. She has participated in various musical projects such as the Misa Criolla (Creole Mass) from Argentina, which she directed, and the Cantata for Domitila, a work featuring her original Bolivan-style music. She sings with a community choir, as well as being a chorister in a church choir and a singer of Gregorian chant. While musical activities have taken pride of place, in Australia Mary-Jane Field has written articles for various publications and for several years was translator and sub-editor for an international Spanish language magazine. She lives in the Eastern suburbs, and shortly after moving there she gave up her car and began relying on the buses for travelling around the area or into the Sydney CBD. So it is no surprise that she has collected these anecdotes about things that have been seen and heard on the buses! Even during the Covid-19 pandemic that started in 2020, she had plenty of bus adventures to relate (always travelling well-masked and respecting government recommendations, of course). It seems that whenever there are groups of people, no matter when or where, there is always something interesting happening!