Knock 'em Down Moon

About the Book

This is about a turbulent week in the lives of a few Territorians, mainly in Darwin, on Goose Island, and in the rocky Arnhem Land Escarpment country, who are concerned about the plight and prospects of Aboriginal people. Gray Bridges, a cross-cultural communication specialist, goes to the island and is challenged by Mani Mangguulu's way of seeing his people's situation.

On the island, and back in Darwin, a string of disturbing events reveals deep-seated hostilities and tragic divisions, and after a gruesome murder, an underlying long-term story surfaces and puts certain things into clearer perspective, and also suggests a direction to look in order to see what is really needed for giving low impact, effective aid for survival and creative self-development.

About the Author

Jack Goodluck worked in cross-cultural adult education in the Northern Territory, the Kimberley, WA, and the Pitjatjantjara Lands, SA, and devised and conducted residential courses for Aboriginal adults and for Government and Mission Field Staffs. His course work included cross-cultural communication, social analysis, health management, business management and community development roles. Several of the indigenous students became Adult Educators working with him.

During four decades he matched course work to rapidly changing cross-cultural situations, and in 1981 he published The Folk Educators in which he outlined the methods he had found effective in adult cross-cultural processes.

Believing for many years in the power of story-telling and participatory learning, he became even more committed to these ways of communicating and learning during his years living and working in Aboriginal communities.

In retirement he has interviewed Aboriginal managers of community enterprises in all States and worked with a Commonwealth funded team to produce a curriculum framework for management training in which English literacy was not essential.

He is listed in the Bibliography of Australian Literature as the author of two children's story books, "Such is the Kingdom" and "Biaga and Lagi", and has produced a wide range of study books, essays and short stories. Knock'em Down Moon is his first novel.