At the age of 100, George Michael’s memory is fading but when he held Tales of Cyprus – A tribute to a bygone era (V2), he began to slowly remember being interviewed for the book.
“His memory isn’t great anymore and it took him a while to remember who I was and to remember he was in this book,” Melbourne-based author Constantinos Emmanuelle told The Greek Herald.
“When I told him to open the page and he saw himself, it was like a light bulb went off and he said, ‘you wrote my story.’ His eyes lit up and you could see a spark of recognition in his eyes.
“He reacted with facial expressions more than tears and sounds. The expression on his face changed because it dawned on him that it was his story.”
The story of George’s life and those of other Cypriots living in Australia features in the latest book by Mr Emmanuelle.
George, who was born on July 24, 1924, in Kornos, Cyprus, is the oldest person interviewed for the author’s latest book, which is part of a series. His story speaks of poverty, hardship, resilience, perseverance and a will to better his fortunes in life.
Like many other Cypriot children in those hard times, George did not complete primary school. A chance at a better life began when he started as an unpaid carpentry apprenticeship with free lodging and food in another town.
By 1942, he had learned to make furniture and returned to his village where his mother sold her pig for twenty pounds so that he could purchase wood and tools to continue his trade.
George had to learn the hard way that not everyone was honest, especially in times of poverty. He told Mr Emmanuelle the story of one of his first customers who ordered furniture for his daughter who was getting married, but didn’t pay the agreed price.
“When I had completed the job, he said to me, ‘take the furniture to my house and I will meet you there to pay you what I owe’,” George recalled.
“However, when I delivered the furniture to his house, he was nowhere to be found. From there on, he kept tricking me and he never ended up paying me.”
Life was very hard after WWII and so George made the decision to migrate to Australia, in part because he was struggling to make a living, he saw how his parents were suffering from poverty, and the dishonesty of some of his customers.
George’s story is in book three of Tales of Cyprus and is part of a series that has been well received from people all around the world.
“I have been very lucky that my first two books all sold out and have become a collector’s item,’’ Mr Emmanuelle said.
“Anyone who misses on buying a hard cover original cloth-bound book will have to settle for a softcover version which they can order online.”
Book 1 (Volume 1) was titled A tribute to a bygone Era and features 40 life stories told to the author by Cypriots from his parent’s generation – Cypriots who were born in the 1920s and 1930s.
Book 2 was titled The Corsica and features eye-witness accounts by Cypriots who travelled to Australia in December 1951 on board the dilapidated migrant ship called the Corsica.
Book 3 is the second volume of A tribute to a bygone Era featuring more life stories of Cypriots.
“Most of the readers were excited and thrilled when they saw the first book,” Mr Emmanuelle said.
“People from around the world rushed to buy a copy and then sent me beautiful and very complimentary messages.”
It has been a labour of love for Mr Emmanuelle who juggles researching, interviewing, designing and editing in between being employed as a TAFE teacher for the visual arts at Melbourne Polytechnic.
The father-of-four has a Cypriot background and a career in graphic design, illustration and photography – skills that have helped achieve his goal of recording people’s life stories.
He said compiling the book takes “a lot of preparation,” that begins with the task of scanning all original photos and documents provided by the families.
“Once the photos are scanned, I use my Adobe Photoshop skills to prepare each photo for print production and book design,’’ he said.
“This is where I am very fortunate to have the skills and training to be able to design the books myself – from cover to cover. My career has prepared me beautifully for this role.
“If I had to source out or pay someone to design my books, I would need to pay them at least $25,000.
“If that was the case – I would not be able to afford to publish any books.”
Tales of Cyprus – A tribute to a bygone era (V2) is being launched Sunday, November 10 at St John’s College, Preston, Victoria. Find out more: www.talesofcyprus.com
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