VICDOC Winter 2022 - Magazine - Page 99
I HAVEN’T ALWAYS BEEN A WRITER, BUT I HAVE
WRITTEN THROUGHOUT MY MEDICAL CAREER.
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Many years ago, I wrote a medical book
about clinical exercise testing based on
work I was involved with in London and
Canada. I’ve written a few medical papers,
of course, and occasionally I write to
The Age. But when people read something
I’ve written — like a draft chapter of my
book — they say that I am a writer.
MY FATHER, GRAEME ROBERTSON, WAS A
PROMINENT AUSTRALIAN NEUROLOGIST. IN HIS
SPARE TIME, HE’D PHOTOGRAPH AND STUDY THE
USE OF DECORATIVE CAST IRON IN ARCHITECTURE.
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I’m sure his creativity rubbed off on me.
He bought me cameras when I was young
and I’ve continued to take photographs
throughout my life. Sometime before my
father died in 1975, I asked him about his
father. His reply, “You would not want
to know”, planted a seed. I didn’t get
the feeling that there were any really
nasty family secrets — but he was clearly
reticent to talk about his family.
AFTER I RETIRED FROM MY ROLE AS A
RESPIRATORY PHYSICIAN IN 2015 AND HAD MORE
TIME, I STARTED RESEARCHING OUR FAMILY.
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Eventually I had enough information
to write a book about my father, and
E. Graeme Robertson: Physician,
Photographer, Preserver is the result.
It’s about my father, his life and his family.
I wasn’t driven to write this book quickly.
It was probably 10 years ago when I first
put pen to paper. Not being a professional
writer, I didn’t allocate a time each day
to start writing. As I researched each
part of the book, I would put that section
together before I moved on to the next.
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