"At
heart for me, he's just my dad" John
Bradman
March
26, 2001 RECOVERING from a throat infection and fighting
back tears, John Bradman spoke at length about his
relationship with his famous father.
"At heart for me, he's just my dad. That's how he
saw it, too.
"I
was about 10 when I ... introduced a school friend
to my dad and turned and said in my grandest little
voice: 'And this is Sir Donald Bradman'. And my Dad
had an incredibly quick mind and could have said something
but he also had a great capacity for restraint and
I think it was one of my favourite qualities.
"He
waited until we were alone and he took me aside and
very quietly and warmly talked about his values ...
and said 'it's how I am as a father, not who I am
that matters'. And he said that 'no matter what, I
am just your dad and that's how you should introduce
me and that's how you should see me'.''
Mr
Bradman then spoke of the controversial decision to
change his name to Bradsen. "It was an extremely difficult
time for me. He and I and my mum discussed it around
the dining room table. He'd always given me a huge
amount of freedom to make up my own mind and he never
tried to talk me out of it.
"When
I discussed with him the recent change back to our
family name he was typically generous and said `don't
do it for me'. But in part I did and I know it warmed
him.
"There
have been some funny things, too. I recall one night
just after I'd gone to bed, I heard this wailing coming
from his room and I ran in to find him jumping up
and down slapping himself. He'd hopped into bed and
had been bitten by a swarm of bees ... the Department
of Agriculture had a special unit that dealt with
bees.
"So
the next morning he rang them up and said my name
is Don Bradman and I've got some bees in my cavity
wall. And as quick as a flash the bloke on the phone
said: `Well my name is Bill Smith and I've got bats
in the belfry' and hung up. The poor fellow thought
it was a joke.''
Mr
Bradman reiterated his belief that his father should
not be so revered that he becomes god-like. "I was
in the State Library recently where some of his things
are in a collection ... one item is a rug which used
to be on the floor of my room. It's in the design
of the Australian blazer pocket and it has a dark
green background and in this dark green background
are some faded patches. "I was standing next to some
people and they were discussing these pale patches
in hushed tones and with almost reverential significance
... I could have told them they were the patches where
my little dog had peed on it.'' The
Australian March 26th 2001
