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Ducks on the Pond: An Autobiography 1945-1976
An unflinching personal story of a woman who challenged the world she was given.
‘Ducks on the pond!’ a shearer called out if he saw a woman approach or enter that exclusively male domain, the shearing shed.
The call was a signal to all the shearers to stop work or at least refrain from swearing until the woman had gone.
‘Ducks on the pond!’ a shearer called out if he saw a woman approach or enter that exclusively male domain, the shearing shed.
The call was a signal to all the shearers to stop work or at least refrain from swearing until the woman had gone.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
Anne Summers
25 books51 followersProfessional
Dr Anne Summers AO is a best-selling author, journalist and thought-leader with a long career in politics, the media, business and the non-government sector in Australia, Europe and the United States.
She is author of eight books, including the classic Damned Whores and God’s Police, first published in 1975. This bestseller was updated in 1994 and, again, in 2002 and stayed continuously in print until 2008. A new edition was published on International Women’s Day 2016.
Her previous books are The Misogyny Factor (2013), The Lost Mother: A Story of Art and Love (2009, 2010) and On Luck (2009), The End of Equality (2003), Ducks on the Pond (1999), Gamble for Power (1983) and Her-Story: Australian Women in Print (with Margaret Bettison – 1980). She writes a regular opinion column for the Sydney Morning Herald.
Anne was involved in the early 1970s, in helping start Elsie, Australia’s first women’s refuge and Refractory Girl, a women’s studies journal.
In 1975 she became a journalist, first on The National Times, then in 1979 was appointed Canberra bureau chief for the Australian Financial Review and then the paper’s North American editor.
She ran the federal Office of the Status of Women (now Office for Women) from 1983 to 1986 when Bob Hawke was Prime Minister and was an advisor, on women’s issues among other things, to Prime Minister Paul Keating for a year prior to the 1993 federal election.
In 1987 in New York she was editor-in-chief of Ms. – America’s landmark feminist magazine – and the following year, with business partner Sandra Yates bought Ms. and Sassy magazines in the second only women-led management buyout in US corporate history.
In November 2012 she began publishing Anne Summers Reports a lavish free digital magazine that promises to be ‘Sane Factual Relevant’ and which reports on politics, social issues, art, architecture and other subjects not covered adequately by the mainstream media.
In September 2013 Anne launched her series of Anne Summers Conversations events with former prime minister Julia Gillard in front of a packed Sydney Opera House.
Anne was chair of the board of Greenpeace International (2000-2006) and Deputy President of Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum (1999-2008).
In 1989 she was made an Officer in the Order of Australia for her services to journalism and to women. In 2011, along with three other women, Anne was honoured as an Australian Legend with her image placed on a postage stamp.
Anne was a leader of the generation and the movement that changed Australia for women. Her involvement in the women’s movement has earned her community respect. She has received Honorary Doctorates from Flinders University (1994), the University of New South Wales (2000), the University of South Australia (2014) and the University of Adelaide (2015).
Personal
Anne lives in Sydney with Chip Rolley, her partner of 27 years who is the editor of The Drum, the ABC’s opinion website.
Dr Anne Summers AO is a best-selling author, journalist and thought-leader with a long career in politics, the media, business and the non-government sector in Australia, Europe and the United States.
She is author of eight books, including the classic Damned Whores and God’s Police, first published in 1975. This bestseller was updated in 1994 and, again, in 2002 and stayed continuously in print until 2008. A new edition was published on International Women’s Day 2016.
Her previous books are The Misogyny Factor (2013), The Lost Mother: A Story of Art and Love (2009, 2010) and On Luck (2009), The End of Equality (2003), Ducks on the Pond (1999), Gamble for Power (1983) and Her-Story: Australian Women in Print (with Margaret Bettison – 1980). She writes a regular opinion column for the Sydney Morning Herald.
Anne was involved in the early 1970s, in helping start Elsie, Australia’s first women’s refuge and Refractory Girl, a women’s studies journal.
In 1975 she became a journalist, first on The National Times, then in 1979 was appointed Canberra bureau chief for the Australian Financial Review and then the paper’s North American editor.
She ran the federal Office of the Status of Women (now Office for Women) from 1983 to 1986 when Bob Hawke was Prime Minister and was an advisor, on women’s issues among other things, to Prime Minister Paul Keating for a year prior to the 1993 federal election.
In 1987 in New York she was editor-in-chief of Ms. – America’s landmark feminist magazine – and the following year, with business partner Sandra Yates bought Ms. and Sassy magazines in the second only women-led management buyout in US corporate history.
In November 2012 she began publishing Anne Summers Reports a lavish free digital magazine that promises to be ‘Sane Factual Relevant’ and which reports on politics, social issues, art, architecture and other subjects not covered adequately by the mainstream media.
In September 2013 Anne launched her series of Anne Summers Conversations events with former prime minister Julia Gillard in front of a packed Sydney Opera House.
Anne was chair of the board of Greenpeace International (2000-2006) and Deputy President of Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum (1999-2008).
In 1989 she was made an Officer in the Order of Australia for her services to journalism and to women. In 2011, along with three other women, Anne was honoured as an Australian Legend with her image placed on a postage stamp.
Anne was a leader of the generation and the movement that changed Australia for women. Her involvement in the women’s movement has earned her community respect. She has received Honorary Doctorates from Flinders University (1994), the University of New South Wales (2000), the University of South Australia (2014) and the University of Adelaide (2015).
Personal
Anne lives in Sydney with Chip Rolley, her partner of 27 years who is the editor of The Drum, the ABC’s opinion website.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 12, 2023
Interesting to read some Australian women’s history, that I previously knew very little about. Anne Summers had a difficult childhood that helped shape her fierce independence. This book highlights how women’s lives have changed, in almost 50years and how we still have a long way to go before we can truly say society is equal for all.
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July 27, 2011An addictive read. Particularly interesting is her account of being involved in the Women's Liberation Movement and setting up Elsie, Australia's first women's refuge during the 70s. However her account of her childhood, growing up in a strongly Catholic Adelaide family in the 50s is equally as insightful.
May 1, 2016
For someone with such a rich pedigree of journalism, this became a tedious read the further I got through it. I had expected far more passion and verve and an exposition of the personal drives that made Summers an agent of change. Instead, the picture painted was almost bland and to honest, self seeking. Disappointing read.
August 7, 2011
i thought this was a good book
August 17, 2011
I read this with a great deal of interest and was very familiar with the setting (lived in S.A. in the 1970's) and had met or knew of many of the people she mentioned. Walking old territory.
April 25, 2013
Every young female should read this book... its shows how far we have come and yet there is so far to go in supporting women in the work force.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews