▁of ▁the ▁St olen ▁Gener ations ▁and ▁sent ▁to ▁a ▁Catholic ▁school ▁in ▁To owo om ba . ▁After ▁school ing , ▁he ▁returned ▁to ▁his ▁rural ▁roots ▁and ▁worked ▁for ▁sevent een ▁years ▁as ▁a ▁country ▁labour er , ▁including ▁dro ving , ▁she aring , ▁bag ▁l ump ing , ▁w ool ▁pressing ▁and ▁w eld ing . ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 9 6 7 , ▁he ▁married ▁Helen , ▁with ▁whom ▁he ▁has ▁three ▁sons ; ▁they ▁later ▁divor ced ▁but ▁remain ▁" good ▁m ates ". ▁In ▁ 1 9 7 8 , ▁at ▁the ▁age ▁of ▁ 3 3 , ▁Car m ody ▁en rolled ▁in ▁university , ▁Dar ling ▁Down s ▁Institute ▁of ▁Advanced ▁Education ▁( now ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁University ▁of ▁Southern ▁Queensland ). ▁ ▁Due ▁to ▁his ▁limited ▁school ing , ▁Car m ody ' s ▁reading ▁and ▁writing ▁skills ▁were ▁not ▁up ▁to ▁required ▁university ▁standard . ▁Und eter red , ▁he ▁suggested ▁to ▁the ▁history ▁t utor ▁that ▁until ▁his ▁writing ▁was ▁suitable ▁he ▁would ▁present ▁his ▁research ▁in ▁a ▁musical ▁format ▁accompanied ▁by ▁guitar . ▁While ▁this ▁was ▁a ▁novel ▁approach ▁at ▁university , ▁it ▁was ▁in ▁line ▁with ▁the ▁far ▁older ▁ind igen ous ▁tradition ▁of ▁or al ▁history . ▁Although ▁Car m ody ▁had ▁extensive ▁historical ▁knowledge , ▁lear nt ▁by ▁or al ▁trad itions , ▁much ▁of ▁it ▁could ▁not ▁be ▁found ▁in ▁library ▁history ▁books ▁and ▁was ▁attributed ▁to ▁' un pub lished ▁works '. ▁Car m ody