*APOLLO & THELMA: THELMA’S FAMILY SIDE TOTALLY IGNORED*
*PHOTO: THELMA 27YRS OLD IN 1939. PORTRAIT PHOTO HIGHLIGHTED IN ONE OF MIGHTY APOLLO’S COLOURFULLY DISPLAYED PRESS BOOKS. APOLLO’S SCRAP BOOK CUT OUT STYLE IS EVIDENT. HIS HIGH REGARD FOR THELMA, EMPHASISED IN THE CLEVER SISTER HEADING. TO THE APOLLO FAMILY, THELMA WAS AN ASTUTE BUSINESS PERSON, WHO WAS CARING & LOOKED AFTER THEM WHEN IN NEED. THIS PERSPECTIVE WAS TOTALLY ABSENT IN FAINE’S ONE SIDED PORTRAYAL OF THELMA. THIS IS DESPITE INFORMATION & EVIDENCE BEING PROVIDED BY THE SONS. IT DID NOT FIT THE HARD NOSED CHARACTER THE AUTHOR WISHED TO SHOWCASE.*
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APOLLO & THELMA: A TRUE TALL TALE
****THELMA’S DEATH****
*FAINE IN THE 2ND CHAPTER OF HIS BOOK, WENT INTO HORRIFIC, GRAPHIC DETAIL, OF HOW THELMA DIED & THE STATE OF HER BODY WHEN DISCOVERED.
*FOR THELMA’S GOD SONS, THIS WAS A TOTAL SHOCK & DISTRESSING TO READ.
FAINE NEITHER ASKED APPROVAL, OR NOTIFIED THE FAMILY OF SUCH A CONFRONTING INCLUSION.
*APOLLO’S SONS KNEW THELMA HAD PASSED, DUE TO COMPLICATIONS FROM A SEVERE ASTHMA ATTACK. AN EXPIRED INHALER DID NOT AVERT THE BOUT. THEY WERE SPARED THE WHERE & THE CONDITION IN WHICH THEIR AUNT WAS FOUND. THIS WAS UNTIL 41 YEARS LATER, READING ABOUT IT FOR THE FIRST TIME FAINE’S BOOK.
*IF ASKED, THE BROTHERS WOULD HAVE REFUSED THE VIVID INCLUSION, OUT OF RESPECT OF THEIR AUNTS DIGNITY IN DEATH. THEY WOULD HAVE REQUESTED THAT ONLY THE CAUSE OF DEATH BE MENTIONED. IT IS OUT OF DISGUST, THAT THE NARRATIVE IS NOT MENTIONED WITHIN THIS TEXT. NO FAMILY MEMBER WOULD WISH TO READ SUCH MATERIAL UNANNOUNCED. THIS IS ESPECIALLY IN A BOOK WHERE THEY ARE MEANT TO BE CONTRIBUTORS.
*WHEN FAINE WAS CONFRONTED ON THIS ISSUE BY BRUCE (ONE OF APOLLO’S SONS) OVER THE PHONE, THE DAY BEFORE BOOK RELEASE, HE MADE LIGHT OF THE MATTER. THERE WAS NO APOLOGY FOR THE UNANNOUNCED, HURTFUL INCLUSION. INSTEAD, FAINE MADE A JOKE OF IT. HE SAID HE HAD THOUGHT ABOUT TIEING THELMA’S DECEASED EXPRESSION TO THAT OF THE FROG, WHICH FEATURED IN THE STOLEN CASH DISCOVERY. FAINE PERVERSELY IMPLIED, HE DID THE SONS A FAVOUR BY NOT DOING THIS.
*THIS IS OBVIOUSLY NOT A BOOK THE FAMILY WAS GIVEN DRAFT VIEWING OF BEFORE PUBLICATION, (UNLIKE FAINE’S MARKETING CLAIMS). THIS IS NOT THE BOOK THE AUTHOR PROMISED THE SONS, ONE THEY WOULD BE PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH. IT ALSO SPEAKS OF THE TOTAL LACK OF EMPATHY FAINE HAD TOWARDS THE FAMILY IN WRITING THE BOOK.
*FAINE HIGHLIGHTED IN THE FORWARD SECTION OF HIS BOOK, THAT HE RESPECTED THE FIRST NATIONS WISHES REGARDING WRITING ABOUT THEIR DECEASED. THELMA’S GOD SONS WERE NOT TREATED WITH THE SAME CONSIDERATION.
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*FAMILY WAS AT THELMA’S FUNERAL, UNLIKE FAINE’S ASSERTION*
PHOTOS: THE ABOVE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN IN 1981. THIS IS WHEN APOLLO’S FAMILY FLEW TO KATHERINE FOR THELMA’S FUNERAL. A FEW DAYS LATER THEY WERE DRIVEN FROM DARWIN TO TOP SPRINGS, THE SITE OF THELMA’S WANDA INN. *TOP PHOTO, YOUNG PAUL, TOP RIGHT, IN BLUE TANK TOP., AT MONTEJINNI STATION (15KM FROM WANDA INN). *MIDDLE PHOTO, MARK IN FRONT OF THELMA’S WANDA IN. *PHOTO BOTTOM, MIGHTY APOLLO, AFTER DISEMBARKING AT KATHERINE AIRPORT, ON ROUTE TO HIS SISTERS FUNERAL. YET FAINE INCORRECTLY CLAIMED, THAT THE FAMILY WERE NOT AT THE SERVICE.
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APOLLO &THELMA: A TRUE TALL TALE
*FAINE WROTE THAT THELMA’S FAMILY WERE NOT PRESENT AT HER FUNERAL. THIS IS UNTRUE & THE SONS BELIEVE THIS WAS WRITTEN TO PUT ACROSS A DEPRESSIVE FEEL.
*THE PUBLIC TRUSTEE JOHN FLNN (WHO WAS HANDLING ESTATE AT THE TIME), MADE ARRANGEMENTS FOR APOLLO, PAUL & MARK TO BE AT THE FUNERAL. BRUCE, THE YOUNGEST WAS NOT ALLOWED TO ATTEND, BEING A STATE WARD FOR ANOTHER YEAR.
*THE FAMILY FLEW TO DARWIN, STAYING THERE FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. THEN A FLIGHT WAS TAKEN TO KATHERINE FOR THELMA’S SERVICE. AFTER RETURNING TO DARWIN, A FEW DAYS LATER, JOHN FLYNN DROVE THE FAMILY TO VISIT THELMA’S WANDA INN. THEY SPENT A DAY & NIGHT AT THE INN.
*THE ABOVE WAS NOT MENTIONED IN FAINE’S BOOK, DESPITE PAUL GOING OVER THIS IN DETAIL DURING HIS INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR. FAINE WAS PROVIDED WITH PHOTOS OF THEIR TRIP TO WANDA INN. ONE OF APOLLO AT KATHERINE AIRPORT FEATURES IN THE BOOK. THE AUTHOR PLACES THE DATE AS 1981, WHICH IN FACT WAS WHEN THE FAMILY FLEW TO KATHERINE FOR THE FUNERAL.
*FURTHER FAINE CITES THAT THE SERVICE WAS SPARSELY ATTENDED. HE WAS NOT THERE & WAS NOT GIVEN INFORMATION TO DRAW THIS BLEAK REPORT. THE SERVICE IN KATHERINE WAS IN A SMALL CHURCH & WAS PACKED WITH TERRITORIANS HAILING FROM DIFFERENT PARTS. PAUL GAVE THIS ACCOUNT TO FAINE. HE RECOUNTED HOW HE WAS VERY HOT, DUE TO HIS ILL SUITED, HEAVIER MELBOURNE CLOTHES. THE CHURCH HALL WHICH WAS FAN COOLED, DID LITTLE TO ALLEVIATE THE HEAT.
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