Mabo/...Intense and Passionate...

...Intense and Passionate...

'Intense, passionate, if he was determined to show you something he would. Any occasion he'd get up and dance and sing. And that's how we grew up, if dad had a couple of drinks and he'd just get up and he'd be bending down like them island men and he'd be just dancing and singing and say "Come on, get up you kids." And we'd have to drop or stop whatever we're doing, get up and dance with dad. Or if he'd say, okay, you girls, we're going to learn how to waltz. He'd waltz us around the lounge. He'd move all the furniture out of the road and he'd put an old Dean Martin record on, or you know, Bing Crosby or something, and then we'd waltz. He'd say "I'm going to teach you girls how to waltz." He said "There's no good woman if they can't waltz." And I said "What about the boys, Dad?" And he said "Oh, the boys are busy." And I thought well the brothers can't waltz now, they don't know how. And the girls were taught by the best because Dad was really light on his feet.'

Keywords: activism, Mabo, Eddie Jnr., Mabo, Edward Koiki, Mabo family, Mabo, Gail, music, Townsville