After previously being shown in an old photo lying on a couch with one, Grace Tame has stated in her new biography that she does not “possess a two-foot bong.”
A 19-year-old Ms Tame can be seen playing on her phone while relaxing on a lounge in a 2014 Instagram photo. She is smiling and has her eyes closed.
The Australian of the Year for 2021 appears to be supporting an upright bong, a water pipe used for smoking marijuana, with her left foot.
Ms. Tame, now 27 years old, quickly deleted the picture earlier this year. She has since addressed the issue in her incredibly intimate memoir, The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner: A Memoir, which was published on Tuesday.
She replied, “No, I don’t have a two-foot bong.” And I am aware that if I soar, it will follow suit. The comedown happened later for me when I was younger. Nowadays, it begins before I even reach the summit. I’ve taken a lesson from this.
She continued as she discussed her history with drugs, saying, “I’ve written extensively about drugs, and their risks.” I’ve learnt to be present with my trauma. I’ve mistreated and exploited them. I’m not here to defend their usage or condemn it.
Drugs are awful, but that isn’t the whole story. They do really do damage. That isn’t something I’m here to debate. Many individuals, however, have been left with no other options for surviving, sometimes through no fault of their own.
Drugs no longer hold the same meaning for me as they previously did at this stage in my life.
She said, “I’ll be quite honest with you: there have been instances in my life when I have really enjoyed myself when I was high on drugs.”
To be clear, it wasn’t the drugs that were to blame; rather, it was the company I was keeping.
When Ms. Tame confessed that her high school instructor had sexually assaulted her, he or she made horrifying remarks to her, as she detailed in her book.
The 27-year-old revealed in her book the startling specifics of the sexual assault she endured, her struggle with an eating problem, and her subsequent journey.
After Tame confessed she had been raped by her math teacher, Nicolaas Bester, on the floor of his office, she alleged a school staff member had indicated she had also had “guy problems” while in high school.
Tame, who was once named Australian of the Year for her efforts to support sexual assault survivors, also discussed events that made news in Australia, such as her unwillingness to smile in pictures with Scott Morrison while he was prime minister at the time.
The torture Tame endured from Bester when she was just 15 years old is a major theme in the narrative. It was frightening and repeated.
At the time that he groomed and mistreated Tame, Bester, a 58-year-old teacher at Hobart’s St Michael’s Collegiate School for Anglican girls, was a member of the faculty.
After pleading guilty to “maintaining a connection with a young person under 17” and possessing child exploitation material, the math instructor was given a two years and ten months prison term in 2011.
After serving one year and nine months in prison, Bester continued to lament the “everything” his conviction had cost him, including his good name in the neighborhood.
In a revolting display of bravado, Bester even wrote on Facebook that guys “envied” him and that the abuse was “great”
The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner: A Memoir by Grace Tame is now offered for sale at a suggested retail price of $49.99.