John Flynn: Of flying doctors and frontier faith

by Ivan Rudolph

John Flynn is one of Australia's greatest folk heroes. His achievements are stuff of legend - no other Australian has had more monuments dedicated to him than John Flynn. Flynn established a network of cottage hospitals, flying doctors, patrol padres, welfare centres and radio transmitters to create a Mantle of Safety that would allow the Outback to be habitable for men, women and children. Critique Ivan Rudolph brings out Flynn the man who, like no other,revolutionised the lives of people in the Never Never country of Australia. Fred McKay

Genres: Biography

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Thomas Isern · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author provides a narrative comprising the major elements of Flynn's vision for inland, that is, outback, Australia--the Australian Inland Mission, patrol padres, hospitals staffed by angel sisters, formation of the flying doctor service, a hint of the School of the Air. I found the book useful just to get all these elements in place in my mind and thus comprehend, first, the salience of Flynn's work, and second, the extreme challenge of inland life. The author is almost completely uncritical, however, and unreliable as to handling of material--as evidenced by massive amounts of manufactured dialog, unattributed.

[Sunny Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing story of how one person's love and trust in God can achieve great things. I feel inspired to trust in my faith and know that with good will and pure faith used in order to serve others, there will be a Providence looking over me and my loved ones.

[Heloise Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Flynn was an exceptional man. An inspiration, visionary, motivator, entrepreneur, and then as a Christian bring in the humbleness, forgiveness, patience... the list just goes on. He was truly an amazing man. Whenever I have to hand over a $20 bill in Aus I take a moment to think about the man whose face is on there.

This book should be read by anyone (believers and non-believers alike) who is interested in the process of making dreams come true and having to deal with people who cannot see your vision but you need them to make your dream a reality.

Perseverance is what made Flynn stand out, against all odds he carried on and if he did give up Aus Inland would look a lot different today. This man shaped Inland Aus and I feel he is not revered enough in Australia.

I would encourage everyone to read this book, it will inspire you to never give up hope and your dreams.

[Ross McLaughlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Flynn - an inspiration and pioneer for the interior of Australia, as well as early, rural, communications around the world. Stemming from Christian faith, to have a much more significant impact on the lives of so many Australians, he's certainly worthy of great notoriety. It's a shame that his legacy and story is known by few and far between in suburbia, though I don't doubt that his creation of the Australian Inland Mission / Royal Flying Doctor Service is making the world of difference - right this very moment.

[Mel Jaeger · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite reads ever! Incredible man. Didn't know half of it.

[Aileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book on how John Flynn overcame all sorts of obstacles to invent and make people trust him about having a successful communication system and doctors/nurses for the outback of Australia. He firstly set up a couple of hospitals so that people didn't have to travel to major towns and risk death to get medical help. Then his ideas expanded to the flying doctor and he also introduced wireless communication to the outback which also helped people want to not only live in these isolated places, but have the confidence that if something did happen they could seek some sort of help to work it out, and that if they needed a doctor, he wouldn't be too far away. He also introduced school of the air for the children of the outback to be able to get an education.

[Dzintra aka Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book about an extraordinary Man and his vision for a Mantle of Safety over the Outback. A superb read!