Cheryl Koenig OAM, is a Sydney-based writer and motivational speaker. With Just One Suitcase is her fourth book - the family's memoir - and is Cheryl's homage to her father, Frici, and her father-in-law, Istvan; and her belief in the importance of history in understanding ourselves. Her previous publications are Paper Cranes (2008), The Courage to Care (2007) and There's always hope: just alter the dreams (2006). In 2009 she was named NSW Woman of the Year, and in 2015 received the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to people with disabilities, their families and carers. Her involvement with disability services arose out of caring and advocacy for her son who was severely injured in a vehicle accident. Cheryl continues to volunteer her time to improve health care services, which she combines with her passion for writing. Cheryl has developed a high profile as a speaker to a diversity of organisations and audiences from community groups to being a keynote speaker at the University of New South Wales Graduation Ceremony. Since the release of With Just One Suitcase, Cheryl has been devoting much of her talks on multicultural Australia and what it means to be Australian in a rapidly changing and uncertain world.
'Like many adult children of first generation Australians, I have
grown to appreciate more deeply the momentous decision made by my
parents in leaving their homes, their families and everything
familiar to come to a new land. I believe Australia has benefited
in so many ways from the trust and optimism of those who migrated
to our shores. Our richness as a migrant nation endures through the
stories of our forebears, told and retold to new generations. This
is one such story among many that make us who we are today.'- Tanya
Plibersek, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Minister for
Foreign Affairs and International Development."Cheryl Koenig's
embrace of life shines through in earlier books, such as Paper
Cranes. 'With Just One Suitcase' is the backstory to her
achievements. Where do those with great courage and wherewithal get
it from? From those who raised them, loved them, willed them to
open their hearts to life. This story of the struggle of
grandparents and parents in war-torn Europe leads us movingly to
trials of a different sort in Australia. Cheryl Koenig's message is
that we are always more than one person. We are ourselves, and also
the dreams and hopes of those who have loved us."- Robert Hillman,
award-winning biographer and fiction writer"An excellent story
splendidly told."- Annabel Lawson, Books Editor, Country
Style"Cheryl Koenig is to be congratulated. She has written a
masterpiece. With great skill Cheryl has written an immensely
readable, gripping biography documenting daily life in a crazed
world. The story begins with a thumbnail sketch of life in semi-
rural Romania at the outbreak of the second world war and moves on
to relate the experiences, in that country, of her then youthful
father and father-in-law. Many years later, in Sydney, they chance
to be reunited when Cheryl nervously introduces her father to the
father of her future husband. The writing is powerful, in the first
person, giving the reader a fly-on-the-wall feeling of being there.
Having thoroughly researched the period Cheryl is able to construe
the hitherto unknown Romanian perspective with great credibility,
and, as if they hadn't already suffered enough, she goes on to
relate how these amazing young men had the courage and strength to
take flight and start a new life in this far flung land. That they
survived at all is a miracle."
- Sylvia Levi, Goodreads reviewer
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