August 14, 2025 • 12 mins
Listen live on the FIVEAA Player.
Follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Subscribe on YouTube
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Twenty eight to twelve five Double A the final thirty minutes
of the show. Well, as you're well aware as a
regular five double A listener, we've been in search of
seven sensational South Australian's over seventy those who continue to achieve,
lead and inspire well. After a long and arduous task,
(00:20):
we've narrowed it down and we have our recipients. And
our first recipient joins me now, Donald Oswald. Donald, good
morning to.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
You, Good morning Graham, thank you for having me. Congratulations,
Thank you very much. As I said earlier, this is
my first accolade ever, so I'm pretty quite chuffed your weight.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You had to get past seventy to get it well,
absolutely well worth waiting for.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
So tell us your story. My story, Well, I came
out here. I was born in Scotland and I came
out to Australia when I was a kid. I was
five years old, educated in Australia, worked in the photographic
profession for a long time, finishing also as a freelance photographer.
I went through a change of life situation and reinvented
(01:04):
myself as a registered nurse and worked for fifteen years
in critical care intensive care theater, that sort of stuff.
I supported students on clinical placement for the last couple
of years with Flinders University. Then when COVID hit, there
was no students put on placement, so I sort of
pulled the plug on working and decided to retire. Since then,
(01:27):
I've actually found it's very true the cliche they say
you have not got enough time to work, because I've
been involved in non professional theater for over forty years,
thirty of those have been with Seri Theater and if
I can just put in a very quick plug. Currently
at the Arts Theater, Suri Theater has Come from Away,
(01:50):
which is an absolutely stunning musical that tells the story
of the ninety eleven event when all the airspace in
America was closed. Panes were diverted to Gander in Newfoundland
and a population of the town which is normally run
aback two or three thousand, had over seven thousand people
for five days, and it just tells a story of that.
(02:11):
It's actually a really uplifting and inspiring story. Now, this
is a very theater, So what is your role there. Well,
I'm the set construction manager, so I basically run the
set building team. I do design sets as well, and yeah,
so it's my job to coordinate to run to the timetable,
make sure everything's done on time, and then bump the
(02:32):
set into the theater.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
So I assume you have to be pretty creative to
do that role.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Ah. Yes, you have to think very much on your feet.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So did anything in your past life prepare you to
get involved in the theater? Not really.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I sort of fell into it by accident. I've got
two daughters, and when my eldest daughter, who's now forty,
was little, I was looking after and went to pick
my ex wife up from the theater company. Rocked in
the door and somebody said, oh, Jeffrey and I said no,
my name is Don and they said no, no, no, you
look like the person we wanted in our play. So
(03:09):
I read the script. They said do you want to
be in the play and I said absolutely. So it
was a baptism of fire. I was on stage. I'd
never been on stage before in my life. I was
halfway through the season before I actually realized I was
the perpetrator of the crime. Because it was a thriller. Yeah,
and that was my baptism. So I sort of got
into theater that way worked on stage, did a whole
(03:30):
raft of other things, and then moved on into backstage.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I believe, as well as all sorts of things you do,
you volunteer at Cedars correct.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Absolutely, yeah. I've been there for probably coming up on
five years, and again I went in there with a
totally different role in mind. I originally went in with
the idea of just doing tours and being a guide,
but Tory Dixon Whittle, who was the CEO at the time,
found out that I built in designed stage sets. So
(04:00):
she said, Haydn, would you be interested in helping us
do some renovations on some of the outbuildings. So I said, absolutely,
I'll do that. So I recruited a couple of mates
and there was an old laundryan tack room and we
converted that into a cafe, which is absolutely fantastic if
anybody ever wants to go there. They do fantastic coffee.
(04:22):
And we're now while restoring I guess, not so much
renovating an old dairy and implement shed that was built
in the turn of the century. And I also do
other bits and pieces as required up there.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
And what's the connection with Hans Heisen?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
But my connection is done. No, it was just something
that I wanted to do because of the fact that
he was a celebrity artist in his day. I have
an interesting in art, and Hans Heist is an amazing artist,
most definitely, but also like his Laura Heysen's work. Laura's
portraiture is superb and there are some amazing samples of
(05:00):
that in the little I've got a little gury studio
where that used to be where normal work Noural worked
and there's some really nice exhibition works in there. Now.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Don when you came into the studio, you bought three
books with you, so in your spare time. I can't
believe you've got any spare time. Three books that you've written, Yes, yes,
Wylon's Beach Adventures, Whalen's Garden Adventures, and the one that
you mentioned hasn't been released yet Skating through Trouble. So
let's start with the Whalens books. Okay, well, the Whalen book.
(05:35):
The first one that we produced was Whalen's Garden Adventures.
I had the genesis of the idea a long long
time ago, when my daughter was quite little and I
used and she had a bear, and we used to
animate him and take him everywhere and create stories. And
it was always mulling over in my mind that I'd
write down some of those stories. One day and my
(05:56):
mate Mark Rodgers, who I've known frombout five years now,
is an amazing artist. He really is a fantastic artist,
and he said, look, I've always wanted to illustrate a
children's book. Do you reckon you could write one, And
that was Whalen's Garden Adventures. It's beautifully done and really quick.
Look at it here. It's beautifully illustrated and beautifully written.
You've done a great job.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Thank you all the artwork. It's actually all watercolor, there's
no AI in it at all, and then all gets
scanned into it. So then we followed that up with
Way and there's a little message in each one of them.
In the Garden Adventures, the idea is to teach kids
to go outside and explore the garden and they meet
all sorts of interesting things, you know, bees and ants
(06:37):
and possums and all sorts of and spiders. Then we
did the Beach Adventure, so again it's it's one day
in Whalon's life. He wakes up in the warning and
he goes to the beach and there's a little message
in there about looking after the environment and just being
aware of the fact that everything you do affects something else.
(06:58):
And it's also about getting kids outside to enjoy themselves.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, it's, as I said, beautifully written and illustrated. And
what about Skating Through Trouble, which you've said has yet
to be released.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yeah, well that's that's the launch for That's not until
October because I'm going away for a few weeks. But
that's for older readers. That's for readers we're sort of
thinking seven to nine, that sort of age group, And
that's about they're actually birds, but they're from whatever, you know,
the birds as humans and they live in a little
(07:32):
country town and conn the kooker Borough, is the new
kid in town. He arrives in town and he's feeling
very lost. He doesn't know anybody, and he meets the
Kobe crew and there are a group of skaters or
skateboarders and they take him on in as a friend
and they teach him how to skate. So the synopsis
(07:55):
of it in essence is that it's about our friendship
people as they are overcoming challenges. Because Conna never skateboarded
before in his life and I'm coming out on top.
There's a villain in the story. It's also about undoing
the villain, because the villain is he's a likely a
(08:18):
mister Crumb, and he's he comes into town to exploit
the town and make money and then scarp her off.
And the kids discover that, so they sort of with
the help of the adults, they solve the crime. I
would never purport to be of the quality of Enid Blyton,
but when she wrote Secret seven, she wrote Secret seven
on that concept that the kids would discover stuff and
(08:41):
then they would relad that to adults and then the
issues would be solved. And it's that sort of parallel
and it's in the same sort of age group.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah, look, beautiful stories. Do you mind if we give
these away? Mate?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
By all means you can do that.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
The first three callers eight double two three, what number
which like call sam eight double two three, double o
double five, one book for one reader, one book for
two readers, one book for.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Three and the violent books of the little ones sort
of two to five two six, and the Scanning through
Trouble is for the age of a slightly older age
group of sort of six to nine brilliant.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Look, we've just got another couple of minutes. I don't
know if we can get through the life story. And
it's quite amazing. What advice would you have for people?
You know, you're in your early seventies and obviously got
a lot of living to do, But people who are
approaching retirement, who are sort of thinking life is winding down.
It sounds like for you life has gone the other way.
It's wound up correct.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Absolutely. Look, I think really the one thing that I've
found since retiring is presume what you're interested in. I've
always been a creative and artistic type person, and now
that I've sort of followed that, it's just open a
whole lot of doors. Try things, just do it. It's
good fun. I'm Marshall, a traffic marshal for the TDU.
(10:03):
I'm an official on the Tour down Under Sorry, the
Solar Challenge. There is a whole raft of things that
you can get involved in the volunteer role and it's
just never dull, Absolutely never dull.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
And what's the worst thing that can happen If you
try something that doesn't work, you walk away and try
something else and try something else. One thing, I think
we need to make a point of regarding the books
the importance in this technological age and smartphones and you
know everything else. There's nothing like a good hardcover book.
(10:37):
Sit down with a child at any age and just
read to them.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Absolutely, And I will add, as I mentioned to you before,
there is no AI at all in any of those books.
It's all my inside my head for the writing, and
Mark my mate for the illustrations.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
That's very reassuring because we know that AI is encroaching
on so many parts of life today and I think
it can be a sure dismissed it all together. But
when it comes to creativity and a message from the heart,
that's where it's got to come from. Yeah, yep, I agree. Look, Donald,
thank you so much for coming in today. I can
see well I know why because I was on a
(11:14):
voting panel, but it's very apparent why you are one
of the seven sentational South Australians over Semity.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Well, I am quite I am quite taken aback by
the fact that you've voted for me, and I really
appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
It's it's quite remarkable. So thank you, great story. Thanks
for coming in today.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
We've been speaking with Donald Oswald, who has done so
many things. He's an author, he does work at the
Theerry Theater, the Cedars. Was it left Crossings?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Did you say you're doing TDU on the Traffic Marshal
Traffic Martian and All Soul official on the Bridge Stone
Solar Challenge.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
So well done well Donald, Thank you very much for
coming in. Thank you a pleasure speaking with you. And
we have the winners of the three books, Moniker, Rachel
and Tony. Congratulations you have one of Donald Oswald's books
back shortly five Double A Mornings with Graham Goodings
Twenty eight to twelve five Double A the final thirty minutes
of the show. Well, as you're well aware as a
regular five double A listener, we've been in search of
seven sensational South Australian's over seventy those who continue to achieve,
lead and inspire well. After a long and arduous task,
(00:20):
we've narrowed it down and we have our recipients. And
our first recipient joins me now, Donald Oswald. Donald, good
morning to.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
You, Good morning Graham, thank you for having me. Congratulations,
Thank you very much. As I said earlier, this is
my first accolade ever, so I'm pretty quite chuffed your weight.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You had to get past seventy to get it well,
absolutely well worth waiting for.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
So tell us your story. My story, Well, I came
out here. I was born in Scotland and I came
out to Australia when I was a kid. I was
five years old, educated in Australia, worked in the photographic
profession for a long time, finishing also as a freelance photographer.
I went through a change of life situation and reinvented
(01:04):
myself as a registered nurse and worked for fifteen years
in critical care intensive care theater, that sort of stuff.
I supported students on clinical placement for the last couple
of years with Flinders University. Then when COVID hit, there
was no students put on placement, so I sort of
pulled the plug on working and decided to retire. Since then,
(01:27):
I've actually found it's very true the cliche they say
you have not got enough time to work, because I've
been involved in non professional theater for over forty years,
thirty of those have been with Seri Theater and if
I can just put in a very quick plug. Currently
at the Arts Theater, Suri Theater has Come from Away,
(01:50):
which is an absolutely stunning musical that tells the story
of the ninety eleven event when all the airspace in
America was closed. Panes were diverted to Gander in Newfoundland
and a population of the town which is normally run
aback two or three thousand, had over seven thousand people
for five days, and it just tells a story of that.
(02:11):
It's actually a really uplifting and inspiring story. Now, this
is a very theater, So what is your role there. Well,
I'm the set construction manager, so I basically run the
set building team. I do design sets as well, and yeah,
so it's my job to coordinate to run to the timetable,
make sure everything's done on time, and then bump the
(02:32):
set into the theater.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
So I assume you have to be pretty creative to
do that role.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Ah. Yes, you have to think very much on your feet.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So did anything in your past life prepare you to
get involved in the theater? Not really.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I sort of fell into it by accident. I've got
two daughters, and when my eldest daughter, who's now forty,
was little, I was looking after and went to pick
my ex wife up from the theater company. Rocked in
the door and somebody said, oh, Jeffrey and I said no,
my name is Don and they said no, no, no, you
look like the person we wanted in our play. So
(03:09):
I read the script. They said do you want to
be in the play and I said absolutely. So it
was a baptism of fire. I was on stage. I'd
never been on stage before in my life. I was
halfway through the season before I actually realized I was
the perpetrator of the crime. Because it was a thriller. Yeah,
and that was my baptism. So I sort of got
into theater that way worked on stage, did a whole
(03:30):
raft of other things, and then moved on into backstage.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I believe, as well as all sorts of things you do,
you volunteer at Cedars correct.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Absolutely, yeah. I've been there for probably coming up on
five years, and again I went in there with a
totally different role in mind. I originally went in with
the idea of just doing tours and being a guide,
but Tory Dixon Whittle, who was the CEO at the time,
found out that I built in designed stage sets. So
(04:00):
she said, Haydn, would you be interested in helping us
do some renovations on some of the outbuildings. So I said, absolutely,
I'll do that. So I recruited a couple of mates
and there was an old laundryan tack room and we
converted that into a cafe, which is absolutely fantastic if
anybody ever wants to go there. They do fantastic coffee.
(04:22):
And we're now while restoring I guess, not so much
renovating an old dairy and implement shed that was built
in the turn of the century. And I also do
other bits and pieces as required up there.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
And what's the connection with Hans Heisen?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
But my connection is done. No, it was just something
that I wanted to do because of the fact that
he was a celebrity artist in his day. I have
an interesting in art, and Hans Heist is an amazing artist,
most definitely, but also like his Laura Heysen's work. Laura's
portraiture is superb and there are some amazing samples of
(05:00):
that in the little I've got a little gury studio
where that used to be where normal work Noural worked
and there's some really nice exhibition works in there. Now.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Don when you came into the studio, you bought three
books with you, so in your spare time. I can't
believe you've got any spare time. Three books that you've written, Yes, yes,
Wylon's Beach Adventures, Whalen's Garden Adventures, and the one that
you mentioned hasn't been released yet Skating through Trouble. So
let's start with the Whalens books. Okay, well, the Whalen book.
(05:35):
The first one that we produced was Whalen's Garden Adventures.
I had the genesis of the idea a long long
time ago, when my daughter was quite little and I
used and she had a bear, and we used to
animate him and take him everywhere and create stories. And
it was always mulling over in my mind that I'd
write down some of those stories. One day and my
(05:56):
mate Mark Rodgers, who I've known frombout five years now,
is an amazing artist. He really is a fantastic artist,
and he said, look, I've always wanted to illustrate a
children's book. Do you reckon you could write one, And
that was Whalen's Garden Adventures. It's beautifully done and really quick.
Look at it here. It's beautifully illustrated and beautifully written.
You've done a great job.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Thank you all the artwork. It's actually all watercolor, there's
no AI in it at all, and then all gets
scanned into it. So then we followed that up with
Way and there's a little message in each one of them.
In the Garden Adventures, the idea is to teach kids
to go outside and explore the garden and they meet
all sorts of interesting things, you know, bees and ants
(06:37):
and possums and all sorts of and spiders. Then we
did the Beach Adventure, so again it's it's one day
in Whalon's life. He wakes up in the warning and
he goes to the beach and there's a little message
in there about looking after the environment and just being
aware of the fact that everything you do affects something else.
(06:58):
And it's also about getting kids outside to enjoy themselves.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, it's, as I said, beautifully written and illustrated. And
what about Skating Through Trouble, which you've said has yet
to be released.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yeah, well that's that's the launch for That's not until
October because I'm going away for a few weeks. But
that's for older readers. That's for readers we're sort of
thinking seven to nine, that sort of age group, And
that's about they're actually birds, but they're from whatever, you know,
the birds as humans and they live in a little
(07:32):
country town and conn the kooker Borough, is the new
kid in town. He arrives in town and he's feeling
very lost. He doesn't know anybody, and he meets the
Kobe crew and there are a group of skaters or
skateboarders and they take him on in as a friend
and they teach him how to skate. So the synopsis
(07:55):
of it in essence is that it's about our friendship
people as they are overcoming challenges. Because Conna never skateboarded
before in his life and I'm coming out on top.
There's a villain in the story. It's also about undoing
the villain, because the villain is he's a likely a
(08:18):
mister Crumb, and he's he comes into town to exploit
the town and make money and then scarp her off.
And the kids discover that, so they sort of with
the help of the adults, they solve the crime. I
would never purport to be of the quality of Enid Blyton,
but when she wrote Secret seven, she wrote Secret seven
on that concept that the kids would discover stuff and
(08:41):
then they would relad that to adults and then the
issues would be solved. And it's that sort of parallel
and it's in the same sort of age group.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah, look, beautiful stories. Do you mind if we give
these away? Mate?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
By all means you can do that.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
The first three callers eight double two three, what number
which like call sam eight double two three, double o
double five, one book for one reader, one book for
two readers, one book for.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Three and the violent books of the little ones sort
of two to five two six, and the Scanning through
Trouble is for the age of a slightly older age
group of sort of six to nine brilliant.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Look, we've just got another couple of minutes. I don't
know if we can get through the life story. And
it's quite amazing. What advice would you have for people?
You know, you're in your early seventies and obviously got
a lot of living to do, But people who are
approaching retirement, who are sort of thinking life is winding down.
It sounds like for you life has gone the other way.
It's wound up correct.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Absolutely. Look, I think really the one thing that I've
found since retiring is presume what you're interested in. I've
always been a creative and artistic type person, and now
that I've sort of followed that, it's just open a
whole lot of doors. Try things, just do it. It's
good fun. I'm Marshall, a traffic marshal for the TDU.
(10:03):
I'm an official on the Tour down Under Sorry, the
Solar Challenge. There is a whole raft of things that
you can get involved in the volunteer role and it's
just never dull, Absolutely never dull.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
And what's the worst thing that can happen If you
try something that doesn't work, you walk away and try
something else and try something else. One thing, I think
we need to make a point of regarding the books
the importance in this technological age and smartphones and you
know everything else. There's nothing like a good hardcover book.
(10:37):
Sit down with a child at any age and just
read to them.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Absolutely, And I will add, as I mentioned to you before,
there is no AI at all in any of those books.
It's all my inside my head for the writing, and
Mark my mate for the illustrations.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
That's very reassuring because we know that AI is encroaching
on so many parts of life today and I think
it can be a sure dismissed it all together. But
when it comes to creativity and a message from the heart,
that's where it's got to come from. Yeah, yep, I agree. Look, Donald,
thank you so much for coming in today. I can
see well I know why because I was on a
(11:14):
voting panel, but it's very apparent why you are one
of the seven sentational South Australians over Semity.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Well, I am quite I am quite taken aback by
the fact that you've voted for me, and I really
appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
It's it's quite remarkable. So thank you, great story. Thanks
for coming in today.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
We've been speaking with Donald Oswald, who has done so
many things. He's an author, he does work at the
Theerry Theater, the Cedars. Was it left Crossings?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Did you say you're doing TDU on the Traffic Marshal
Traffic Martian and All Soul official on the Bridge Stone
Solar Challenge.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
So well done well Donald, Thank you very much for
coming in. Thank you a pleasure speaking with you. And
we have the winners of the three books, Moniker, Rachel
and Tony. Congratulations you have one of Donald Oswald's books
back shortly five Double A Mornings with Graham Goodings
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.