Pavlovas To Popcorn
A Warbrides Story
Author Ruth Frost
This is a story of love, heartbreak, deception, intrigue, sex on the
high seas and a Captain who wanted nothing to do with the 300 Australian
War Brides and the 106 children by refusing to come off the bridge. The
story takes you into the backlash of a tidal wave; the seasickness, injuries
and one in a straight jacket. The story then moves to post WWII and life
in mid west America where the author was warmly accepted into her new
family.
Recently Ruth was interviewed by her grandson Ty Frost and these videos
can be viewed here. Episode 1 is below then if you'd like to view more
the complete series is on the video page.
Ruth Frost has kept a diary all her life and 'Pavlovas to Popcorn' is
her personal story as a war bride married to an American soldier in 1945
and her journey to the United States in 1946. Her personal flashbacks
of her life will show that with a positive attitude nothing is impossible.
Her tenacity to make the best of every situation shines through in this
book.
She met her husband Bill by tripping him on the ice skating rink at St.
Moritz in St. Kilda Melbourne on 5th September 1942 and she tells everyone
that she has kept him on ice ever since, for 62 years in fact. Their courtship
of 3 years was via letters and only seeing each other for a total of 31
days out of those 3 years. Just before their wedding illness struck Ruth
in the form of amnesia and the Red Cross rushed Bill down from Finchaven,
New Guinea to be with Ruth in Melbourne. This story is well documented
in her book and the eventual nuptials. Ruth and Bill have 4 children and
5 grandchildren and now reside on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia
where Ruth continues to write her memoirs at the age of 83.
Purchase The Book
If you'd like to enquire about the purchase of 'Pavlovas To Popcorn'
then you can email rubill@tpg.com.au
and organise. The book costs $24.95 plus postage and handling. This is
in Australian Dollars. You can also pay via PayPal and you will find the
link at the top left hand corner of this page.
Sunshine
Coast Daily Article.The
"Revive" magazine liftout of the June 2nd 2007 edition
of the Sunshine Coast Daily featured a two page article about Ruth
and Bill.
CEO
of the Community Books Australia Recently James Scotland, who
is the CEO of the Community Books Australia, sent Ruth an email.
Click the link below to read.
Special
ANZAC Day Event in Washington DC Concurrently with the news
that the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 has finally been passed
by Parliament in Canberra, giving (among others) thousands of Australian-born
War Brides in the US and their children the right to apply for Australian
citizenship from 1 July 2007, the Embassy of Australia in Washington
DC had a special focus on Australian War Brides as part of its commemorations
for ANZAC Day in 2007.
Hamilton
Spectator During 2005 excerpts from 'Pavlovas To Popcorn' were
run in the 'Hamilton Spectator' a newspaper in Hamilton, a town
in Western Victoria. Hamilton was the place that Ruth and her family
spent a great deal of time in after they moved back to Australia.
The excerpts were warmly received and certainly gathered a local
following of readers, wondering what would happen next to these
American Warbrides.
Wikipedia
Definition of War BrideWikipedia defines a war bride as follows:
When American and Canadian allied servicemen were stationed in Australia
and Great Britain, they were (according to the Australians and British)
"overpaid", "oversexed" and "over here".
Ruth
Frost on Radio Australia All Over is a radio programme heard across
the country on ABC Radio. On Sunday April 8th, just before the end
of the programme, the show's host Macca chatted to Ruth Frost. You
can listen to the interview by clicking on the listen now link below.
The
"Revive" magazine liftout of the June 2nd 2007 edition
of the Sunshine Coast Daily featured a two page article about Ruth
and Bill.