October 19, 2013
Author Tom Keneally touched on citizenship, success and the inevitability of change in his keynote address at the annual Kingaroy State High School Speech night on Thursday.
Kingaroy Town Hall was packed with family and friends to watch awards being presented to Year 9-12 students.
Hopefully quite a few were also fans of the Manly Sea-Eagles. The Manly connection with the night was strong … KSHS Principal David Ballin’s son Matt is hooker for the grand final team and Tom Keneally is probably Manly’s biggest fan.
Mr Keneally admitted that it was talk in the dressing room – and encouragement from Matt – that finally got him to Kingaroy for the speech night.
He hadn’t managed in the past because the annual date clashed with book promotions. However this time he had no excuse …
“I thought you’re turning 78 and you have to see Kingaroy or die, or maybe both,” Mr Keneally joked.
He pointed out that it was a “failure” that had provided him with the opportunity to come.
After being nominated for the Booker Prize he hadn’t made the cut.
“I failed to get an English prize tonight,” he said. “It was a great oversight by the judges but I would have missed out on Kingaroy again if I had been unlucky enough to have been shortlisted.”
Mr Keneally paid tribute to the KSHS Year 12 award winners but had a warning for Lauren Cross – the winner of the Year 12 English subject award: “Never try to be a writer. It’s a mug’s game. But if you must, go ahead.”
Mr Keneally said books weren’t dead; they had just become electronic.
“Writing is not dead; writing will never be dead,” he said.
He told the students that they would have to become “an entirely different person” every couple of years to keep up with the changing world.
“Be brave and enjoy the ride,” he said.
He also pointed out that lack of success at school did not mean lack of success afterwards, pointing to Albert Einstein and well-known barrister Geoffrey Robinson (“he couldn’t talk until he was six”) as examples.
“Every child has a different fuse. We must nurse that child along until they ready to explode upon the world,” he said.
He also urged the students to be good citizens and participate in life.
“Politicians aren’t covering themselves with much glory at the moment but you can’t complain about them if you don’t vote,” he said.
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Reception At KSHS
Kingaroy State High School hospitality students hosted Tom Keneally, his wife Judy and special guests to dinner at the school – complete with mocktails – before the Awards ceremony:
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