Parkes Shire Council is pleased to announce that they are hosting Dianne O'Brien at the Parkes Library & Cultural Centre on Friday 16 July at 6.00pm, to discuss her newly released memoir, Daughter of the River Country.
From a victim of the 'stolen generations', Daughter of the River Country is Dianne's extraordinary life story of survival and triumph.
Born in country NSW in the 1940s, baby Dianne is immediately taken from her Aboriginal mother, raised in the era of the White Australia policy.
She goes on to endure horrific domestic violence at the hands of different partners, alcohol addiction and cruel betrayal by those closest to her. But amazingly her fighting spirit is not extinguished.
At the age of 36, while raising six kids on her own, Dianne learns she is Aboriginal and that her great-grandfather was William Cooper, a famous Aboriginal activist. Miraculously she finds a way to forgive her traumatic past and becomes a leader in her own right, vowing to help other stolen people just like her.
Dianne (known as Auntie Di) lives on the Central Coast of NSW. In 2017, she was named 'NSW Grandparent of the Year' and is currently the Chairperson of Mingaletta Corporation, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community hub.
Manager Cultural, Education & Library Services Kerryn Jones said, "Dianne's remarkable story is both compelling and ultimately inspirational. Her book teaches us about the consequences of losing one's cultural identity but also about resilience and the strength of sharing one's story."
