This is a book about the "vicissitudes of life", a phrase I heard twice in one day, first said by my friend Jeffery Barnes over coffee at La Trobe University and, second, by one of the cast of Cosi, the Year 10 play which I saw the same evening at Caulfield Grammar School. The characters about whom I have written are a varied lot. Some are well known and made substantial contributions to our country. Others may not have been so successful. Some lived long lives; some died when they were young.