May Mundt a Biography

violence. There was no acceptable solution for a woman in a situation like this. In the eyes of the world this was not a good look but then the world did not have to live the life that May did. Even though May walked out, she never “ran down” her husband, never stated the real reasons behind her decision and thus wore the brunt of public opinion. Understandably her four children who were left behind, were angry, upset, and felt deserted. According to May, she has “paid for that decision over and over again” but if she had that decision to make again, she would probably walk again. There are no winners in a relationship like this. The husband suffers, the wife suffers, the children carry the scars, and this is passed down to the grandchildren. But finally, at 98, May feels at peace. The family is back together and one hopes that there is a greater sense of understanding about what happened and why it happened. May walked out to her parents in 1960. She had Betty with her. That move was temporary. She had no money, no future prospects, and so she had to leave Betty at Kyogle in New South Wales with friends Lloyd and Edna Andrews. Betty liked it there and of course it would have been very difficult for a young girl to be wrenched from her siblings and find herself on her own. But Betty was safe, and school was good, and life got back to some sort of normality. In the meantime May had to “find her way” in what was a patriarchal Brisbane society. Through the introduction of one Ivan Petavar, May found herself literally embraced in the clutches of the Children of God sect. The embracer being their Pastor, Eric King. King was known as a persuasive and charismatic man who felt that God spoke to him “directly”. Often these messages were about who should show him favours, messages of a sexual nature. Things haven’t changed much it seems even now!

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