Janice Creenaune meets David Muscio, who worked in TAFE, university administration and later regional development in the Illawarra, and is now utilising his organisational skills in retirement for Northern Illawarra U3A in Thirroul, arranging presenters and convening the current affairs special interest group. 

David Muscio is a rare commodity in our community. He has a thirst for knowledge and intellectual pursuits, including discussion of political, social and economic issues, all while harbouring a passion for writing.

The Northern Illawarra University of the 3rd Age (NIU3A) conducts weekly Wednesday talks at the Thirroul Community Centre, and hosts special interest groups throughout the week.

Organisers are essential and David is a person who ‘steps up’ to take the reins. Shortly after joining NIU3A, David assumed the role of convenor of the ‘Current Affairs’ group, held on alternate Mondays at Thirroul Community Centre.

“We meet to consider current events, and I scan issues between meetings. We then discuss whatever rankles us or delights us and we respond to the issues in respectful dialogue. It may be on domestic topics or international, but they are often politically laden.

“The possibilities for spirited discussion are always present as the people attracted to it are interested, attentive and engaged, always offering respectful dialogue and informed opinion.”

Appropriately, for his position, David is concerned about the process of opinion formation.

“Some change can happen, sometimes imperceptibly maybe, but in a life history to look back upon, we see where minds have been and how attitudes have changed. The same-sex marriage plebiscite, for example, offered views but also moderation over time and even within the discussion process,” David says.

“The older community members can be perceived to be more conservative, but this is not always true. There can be an energising freedom to be a ‘ratbag’.”

Another of David’s roles within the NIU3A is as Wednesday Talks organiser.

“We have two talks each week at 9:30am and 11am so organising two speakers each week can be quite challenging.

“The topics are varied and always well-researched and delivered, so it makes for an entertaining morning … For older people it is a way to keep freshly ‘on top’ of ideas and events both local and on a global scale.”

David also attends meetings of the lllawarra Socratic Society.

And he has, in the past, listened and recorded elderly people’s stories.

“I began doing this activity through TAFE and have found it personally engaging and stimulating. The elderly have an expression to which many of them refer, which is “in my day”. I found this particularly interesting and realised that generally it referred to the period between 15 years and 25 years of age.

“This period for most elderly people was pivotal for the number of decisive moments in their lives. This is when they finished school and moved on to training and work, or the unknown, when they began their first jobs and chose a life partner and perhaps even had their first child during this time.

“A really bad time to be born in Australia was 1895 or thereabouts. To grow up in a long depression period, to be old enough to go to war and the very real possibility of being killed, to ‘soldier on’ during the mid-career time of life of The Great Depression period, and to be still young enough to participate in WW11 with another opportunity to be killed or wounded. It is fascinating.”

David hopes to write his own books.

“I do love working in an oral history setting and attempting to draw out stories. But I also like to write and this may provide content to explore.”

He is working on a biography of Mildred Fry, an influential leader of the National Council of Women and a League of Nations representative. With John Curtin, Fry advocated child endowment for large families and provided advice to an inquiry into the Australian Motion Picture industry.

David must be congratulated for his tireless and wide-ranging efforts.

Writer Janice Creenaune is a volunteer for PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease) Foundation Australia. Email janicecreenaune@gmail.com