Book & Authors
The Book - LIFE Questions
As individuals or brothers we normally have different perspectives and we often try to align ourselves in as many ways as possible with what we have in common. As brothers we both knew how different we were from interactions and experiences past. However the one thing we had in common during our teenage years was the sport we played which to our surprise we had chosen the same sports our father had excelled at some twenty plus years before, without knowing as Dad had never revealed his early years apart from his father chasing him after school if the cows were not all safely returned home for milking.
As we had come together on my brother’s trip to Europe with his wife Wendy in 2019 we suddenly had the time and an interest in understanding what life paths we had travelled and what were the reasons for our differences. Was it our family upbringing, the country and town we were born in, the socio economic background of our parents and the time in Brisbane post 2nd World War?
The God question was a good starting place as we were both aware that differences existed. What was different this time was our life experiences of between 66 and 70 years which might reveal the answers. Now the proof was available to place on the table to discover what had caused our thinking to stay so different. It was the ‘mystic’ and the ‘academic’ opening the experience and learning of their lives. We moved together through the chapter headings which emerged without much planning other than what we could agree on to discuss and soon we were realising how randomly we had approached the subjects. This is where the academic shone his learning!
After several attempts we structured the book to allow us to look at the different questions from several perspectives. Having established the question we looked for a topic quotation an Epigraph which introduced the subject from different points in time. We looked for general perspectives, possible responses and different opinions. The general order we followed was:
- Question/Topic (in title)
- Epigraph (On Topic Quotation to Head Chapter)
- General Perspectives
- Possible Responses
- Different Opinions
This allowed us to distill our own thoughts with some degree of awareness and we were then able to provide: Contrasting Perspectives from Two Brothers
We then moved onto the: Summary and struggled over months to find: Reflections for the Reader.
The research and different opinions of others in each chapter is not intended to be complete and comprehensive – it is a sharing of the progress on our journey to understand ourselves better. As brothers we started questioning only for the purpose to understand our views on different subjects and having achieved some progress we moved together through structure, limits, compromise, wisdom, insight, understanding, and adaptability and above all, united in the nature and beauty of our differences.
The ten chapters reveal the very different perspectives of two siblings and yet we accept the differences as our individual nature without need to change or influence the other. A book that perhaps has emerged from the many hours spent in discussions between father and sons and also with Grandad Peach who was strongly connected to discussion and debate about ideas and thoughts. Interestingly Grandad Arthur Ernest Peach (1883-1974) in his last days confessed to his younger son, our father Roy Peach (1925-2010) that his atheist views were suddenly in doubt and he was ready to pray, and our father a devout Christian all his life, had asked in his dying days to his son whether there really was a God?
As brothers we explore and share our views and perspectives on life and ponder creation, religion, life’s journey, happiness, insights and in general the nature of things. Then we look at ourselves at the end of the journey and see if anything changed? It was a surprise to both of us that once we had done the research, looked at different opinions and answered the questions that we had grown deeply in accepting others opinions as purely part of the diversity of our human nature. Had we become more empathic?
The Authors
Trevor John Peach & Dr. Neil Warren Peach
Current Status
Trevor John Peach (born October 1950 Brisbane – Australia)
Since 2013 Trevor lives in Mittenwalde Germany a fairy tale country town just south of Berlin having met his German wife on the Argentine Tango dance floor in Brisbane in 2009. Apart from writing together with his brother he is mainly involved in community activities from local planning to community building renovations and endless small building projects. His main focus is keeping his wife happy with endless walks, lake swimming and making her lunches. Evelin his wife continues her work as an EFT couple therapist and as a social worker for a NFP organization in Berlin. Both having interest in developing communication skills and widening their perspectives on the ingredients of happy relationships.
Dr. Neil Warren Peach (born February 1954 Brisbane – Australia)
Neil is a community advocate who lives in Spring Hill Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Neil’s interests include philosophy, poetry and working with a number of different community groups involved in community sport, neighborhood planning and group title property management. Neil’s doctoral research was associated with the operation of the ‘triple bottom line [social, economic and environmental management] in both business and education settings.
Professional Careers
Trevor
Having had a professional career spanning 40+ years across Australia and SE Asia in Project and Development Management in large scale commercial building projects and affordable housing always involving large teams. The practical hands on experiences providing the challenges and insights to understanding the nuances of business life, and not without failures.
Neil
(1) Research Report for Institute of Public Administration Australia, 2002: “When two out of three won’t be good enough: the implications of sustainable development for public sector agencies”
(2) Doctoral Dissertation, 2005: “An exploratory analysis of business contribution to sustainable development in Australia”.
(3) Paper for the Australian Association of Institutional Research National Conference 2006: “Academic planning and strategic planning: Strangers in the night or potent weapons for competitive advantage?”
(4) Paper for the Australian Universities Quality Agency National Conference, 2006: “Is it an improvement when a cannibal uses a fork or can ‘quality’ thinking actually change outcomes?”
(5) Paper for the Australian Universities Quality Agency National Conference, 2007: “Evolution and Renewal in Quality Assurance: The Student Learning Journey, A Holistic Approach to Quality Assurance in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education”. As contributory author
(6) Book Chapter, 2009:”Planning for a Sustainable Academic Future”. As contributory author,
(7) Article, 2010: Promotion of Sustainability in Post Graduate Education in the Asia Pacific Region. The article, developed in concert with Dr Malik Naeem. [Published in International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education]
Career Affiliations
Trevor
Having had early corporate working experience and then growing his own businesses since the 80’s in challenging places and times across numerous multi-cultural environments in Asia Pacific. This necessitated becoming both aware and grounded in one’s own values and cultural heritage and learning to stand up for common community values across many social and religious divides. Having been a member of many professional business organizations and a Director in several businesses and a not for profit association in affordable housing and as a regular conference speaker during the 90’s across Asia-Pacific property markets. Past member of Australian Property Institute, Property Management Institute, Community Housing Groups, Institute of Quantity Surveyors and Project & Development Management Groups.
Neil
• Personal recipient of an Award of the Australia Day Medal for services to the Queensland Government
• Senior Adviser to the Deputy Director General Queensland Health on the implementation of new asset management techniques across the health portfolio leading to significant reforms in Asset Management across the portfolio
• Company Secretary and Academic Registrar for a large regional university with specific responsibilities for the governance and the oversight of all major administrative protocols for the organisation.
• Australian Project manager for Canadian based Envision Sustainability Tools in preparing a regional sustainability planning model for South East Queensland
• Recipient of an Australian Government Endeavour Executive Scholarship to undertake research and international collaboration on Education for Sustainable Development [ESD] in Thailand.
• Successful academic supervision of doctoral and masters students in an innovative work-based learning program
• Community advocate and adviser (a) for a $15m community centre at Enoggera in Brisbane which was built with no government funding and is now operating successfully (b) for an inner city suburb in Brisbane involving the development and preparation of submissions to government and industry bodies regarding ways of improving and enhancing community life (c) as the Chair of a 65 unit community title scheme in Spring Hill Brisbane.