Lumen Summer 2013 - Flipbook - Page 26
Global
story by Genevieve Sanchez
impact
Giving Life
to the Voiceless
From a passionate writer in the United States
opening her heart and home to the voiceless;
to a champion of public health accorded
Canada’s highest civilian honour and a young
graduate improving the livelihoods of poor
farmers in Vietnam – our graduates make an
impact in all corners of the globe.
With so many alumni working in diverse 昀椀elds
around the world, we want to know who you
would like to see pro昀椀led for Global Impact.
Tell us by emailing alumni@adelaide.edu.au
24 Lumen | Summer 2013
Joanna Catherine Scott
BA (Hons) 1975
Joanna Catherine Scott’s
earliest memories as a toddler
are of the vivid scenes of London
during the Blitz – of fire in the
sky, the sounds of feet running
and people screaming.
“What a wonderful way for a
writer to start their life – with a
beginning of great excitement,”
says Joanna, author of six novels
and four poetry collections.
Yet Joanna’s writing career
did not begin until much later,
following some major events that
made an even greater impact
on her.
Long before she found a
passion for writing, Joanna
was an Adelaide housewife
and mother who discovered a
fascination for philosophy and
enrolled at the University.
“It was a wonderful
environment – what they did
was teach us to think. That was
probably the most important
thing that anybody ever did for
me in my life.”
Joanna says she was “turned
on her head by the Women’s
Revolution”, leading ultimately to
the break-up of her marriage and
the loss of her children through
the divorce.
Years later, a new marriage
saw Joanna move to the United
States and then to Manila when
her husband was appointed
ambassador to the Asian
Development Bank.
Deeply affected by a visit to
a refugee processing centre,
Joanna was moved to write
her first book based on the
stories of the displaced people
she met, those she calls “the
voiceless” – a theme which she
says informs all of her writing.
This was not only the
beginning of Joanna’s journey
as a writer but the creation of
a new family, returning to the
US with three adopted Korean
orphans. Reunited with her
Australian children when they
were older, Joanna’s family
expansion did not end there.
Joanna met John Lee, a
Death Row inmate when he
contacted her after reading
an excerpt from her novel The
Road from Chapel Hill and
identifying with its story about a
runaway slave.
Putting aside the warnings of
friends, Joanna made contact
with John Lee and found him to
be an intelligent and voracious
self-educator with whom she
became friends.
John Lee is now Joanna’s
adopted son and, through
their relationship, he has
become a transformed man,
determined to be one of Death
Row’s innocents. Joanna has
established a fund to raise
contributions for the legal costs
in pursuit of his freedom.
“If we hadn’t come together
through literature, this would
not have happened.”
“I became a totally different
person because of a university
where I had people developing
my mind. You can feel really
proud that it was the University
of Adelaide’s Philosophy
department that set me on
this road.”
www.justiceforjohnlee.org
