Media: BOOK - paperback, 128 pages
Author: T. Dyster
Year: 1992
Other: 135 illustrations

ONE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S MOST COLOURFUL MIGRANTS ... Dragan Miljanovic was born in Yugoslavia. During World War II he absconded from a Nazi Labour Camp. After the war he spent three years in a D.P. camp in Bavaria.

Migrating to Australia in 1948 he settled at Stirling in the Adelaide Hills and established a reputation for his tireless work in the assimilation of fellow migrants and in raising money for charities. With his donkey Pedro he became a familiar figure on Adelaide beaches where he raised large sums for local Life Saving Clubs.

In 1963 he won the Gertrude Kumm Award (an annual award to migrants for outstanding community service).

From the Foreword

I am glad to have known Dragan Miljanovic.

In my mind’s eye I see his wide smile, his open, suntanned face, the enthusiastic sparkle in his deep set eyes. I see him with a basket of yellow mushrooms. I see him on a bicycle delivering pamphlets. 1 see him welcoming guests to the Don Pedro Gallery. I see him arriving at our home at 5.00 am to set up a pig on a spit. 1 see him with his much loved donkey Pedro raising money for good causes. I see him wearing a colourful gipsy style hat, or scarf or cloak. I remember his infectious sense of urgency and his tireless energy in helping others.

The yellow mushrooms remind my wife, Mary, of those you find in children’s picture books with windows and doors which open into the private lives of the elves and fairies who live in them. In this book, the author, Tom Dyster, in his inimitable way opens many windows and doors into the mystery and magic of Dragan’s life. Each chapter is a cameo of an important part of Dragan’s life, often set against the wider background of the places and times in which he lived. Each is an essential ingredient of the author’s portrait of Dragan the man. Together they present a broader view of Dragan’s life and personality than any individual could have experienced. Tom Dyster has provided Dragan’s family, friends, and acquaintances with an absorbing story of a remarkable man, which I am sure, will also appeal to a wider audience.

I commend Tom Dyster for the sensitive and skilful way in which he tells the story of Dragan, whose life of adventure, and his love and concern for others has had a positive influence, extending beyond his own life span. With this permanent record we are left in no doubt that Dragan is “A Man to be Remembered”

Ian Wilson
October 1992

Contents
Unfinished Business
Neither Serb Nor Croat: Historical Preface
Who’s Francuz?
“’Tis virtue, not birth that makes us noble"
Sljivovica and Scenery
A Family Separated
Reunion And Escape
Friends In Need
A Family At War
The World Of Francuz
Arrival
New South Australians
Of Marriage, Jobs And Fishing
Town Crier
Good Neighbours
Mouths To Feed
The Man With The Donkey
Gala Days And Sad Days
Citizenship Rewarded
Gallery In A Cottage
Diversity At Don Pedro
Of Mushrooms And Politics
Destination Old Mill
Busy Times
A Man To Be Remembered
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Index