My Father’s Shadow: a memoir – written by Sandra Goldbloom Zurbo

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A book review by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen

This book tells two stories- it is a partial biography of Sandra’s father and a cross between Sandra’s memories of her father as well as a partial autobiography of her life. Sam was one of the dominant figures of the Victorian Left in the second half of the twentieth century.

I have to issue a caveat in doing this review. Sam was a family friend. Also, when I was about to finish University, Sam approached me with a very good job offer- had he been 36 hours earlier I would have accepted and my own life would have taken a totally different course.

Sandra tells us that Sam had the habit (and for her, it reads that it was rather annoying) of repeating and repeating many of his stories of events in his life. There are some which she is unsure about whether they actually happened or not- as a therapist once told me in another situation “that each story was his reality”. I, too, had the experience of him retelling the same story. Two I remember include that he had two Bar Mitzvah ceremonies. One in Melbourne, then a little later in New Zealand with his father, who had not been able to attend the first. The other story was set in either the late 1950s or early 1960s. There was some film footage of Sam holding forth on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne’s (then) equivalent of Speaker’s Corner.

Today, we would describe Sam as self-educated- he was one of the most educated and widely read persons I ever met, and this was even more remarkable when, according to him, he left school at the age of 14. A discussion with Sam was something in which one was challenged and left with knowledge often about things one had never even thought about. I have vivid memories of sitting in his and Rosa’s house on Alma Road, listening to him holding forth on a variety of topics.

Sam was proud to be called a Jew. He clearly could not be called observant. Sandra states that he was an atheist from shortly after he celebrated his Bar Mitzvah.

Sandra states that he was a secret member of the Communist Party. From my reading of the book, it was not something he ever publicly admitted to. Many of the organisations with which he was associated would be termed ‘communist fronts’.

The family speaks about being on the radar of ASIO. Not only did they suspect that their phone was bugged but there is the amusing story when Sandra was working for Sam of the ASIO man greeting her as she went out on the road selling electronics. Sandra even raises the possibility of electronic surveillance throughout the house.

Perhaps the most complex issue in this book is not so much about Sam’s life but the issues around his dying. Since his death, many states have introduced legislation around Voluntary Assisted Dying. This is not the place to discuss the merits of VAD but clearly Sam wanted to die not in a hospice but at a time and place of his choosing. Reading that section of the book does highlight why many advocate VAD!

There is an amusing section that Sandra shares about his Yarmulke collection. At a family bat mitzvah that Sam attended, I remember being impressed by the kippa he wore to that event which he explained was from one of the “so-called” republics of the old Soviet Union (I think it was Uzbekistan). It was as much attention-gathering as any I have encountered.

Sam’s width of friendships and networks was outstanding. Many were gathered from his involvement in a myriad of leftist causes but one that always struck me as odd was Sam’s friendship with my father. My father, as far as I know, never voted for Labor and just as assuredly, Sam would never have voted for anything more conservative than Labor.

One story that brought on a smile was the description of one weekend when Sam, his wife Rosa and Sandra were sitting around reading the Saturday Age. Rosa brought Sam’s attention to a photo (and an article) of BA Santamaria. Sandra suggested that while the split of the Labour Party and the DLP {Democratic Labour Party} had occurred nearly half a century beforehand perhaps Sam should meet with Santamaria. The response was unequivocal of “with that mamzer?” And to no one surprised that meeting never did occur.

One of the issues not addressed in the life of this incredible man revolves around the businessman that he was. Perhaps it is as simple as the means to support the end. Funds were necessary to cover all the travel that he did. He did sell his business in the early 1970s.

Sandra shared that Rosa did not like flying. More than once did my brother and I share the driving with Rosa when she came to Sydney. One story that might partially explain her reticence to fly was how she described it (I am unsure if she was travelling with Sam, I did have the impression that they were) when on a flight it descended quickly by 10,000 feet. She described how calm all those facing imminent death were.

This is a book that would have benefited from a few pictures. One that comes to mind is Jim Cairns at the head of the Moratorium March with Sam standing next to him.

Perhaps the most interesting part is near the end when Sandra applied for not only her ASIO file but also Sam’s file. It was supposed to take three months but took over twelve months. What surprised Sandra was how perfunctory the files were! For her, there were no surprises, although it did confirm that their home phone was bugged. It also contained minutes of meetings held. When Sandra’s middle sister was also able to access Sam’s file, she did find items which seem to have escaped Sandra’s reading of the file. Admittedly, the whole file was a number of folders each containing 200 pages. Sandra was surprised at how much less redaction had occurred to what she had expected. I am unsure if Sandra was annoyed or perhaps amused when reviewing her own file with some basic material was totally absent such as that her husband was the designer of the Moratorium’s logo.

Sam did cast a giant shadow. One was his very tall self (about 6 foot 3 inches). One was the shadow he cast over parts of Victorian politics, even though, as far as I can discern, he never formally ran for office. And then there was the shadow he cast over his eldest daughter, Sandra’s life. What shadow he cast over his other two daughters only they can tell us.

This is a solid book that is written in such a way that it is an easy and worthy read.

Sandra Goldbloom Zurbo

Monash University Publishing

Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen is associated with Notre Dame Australia’s School of Medicine and St. Vincent’s Private Hospital. Previously he was associated with UNSWMedicine; University of Ballarat (now Federation University); and St. Louis University. He served as CEO of the Sydney Jewish Museum for 5 years.