Kate Reid was in conversation with Alex Sloan on her new book Destination Moon. A memoir of fast cars, French pastries and finding purpose. Destination Moon is an open-hearted memoir about passion and finding purpose from the woman whose mid-career, 180 degree turn, led her from the elite world of Formula 1 to opening in 2012 Melbourne's famous Lune Croissanterie, that has gone on to revolutionise the art of croissant-making.
At 13, Kate Reid already knew exactly where she was headed: a career in Formula 1, a life lived at full throttle. Like a master cartographer she had drawn the map of her future – all she had to do was follow the course she’d charted. But after earning a degree in aerospace engineering and taking up a coveted position at one of the top F1 teams in the UK, Kate discovered that the reality didn’t exactly live up to the dream. The pursuit of perfection that had once made her reach for the moon now sent her spiralling into a life-threatening battle against depression and anorexia.
From the grey skies of England and Monaco’s glittering, million-dollar harbour, to Melbourne’s trendy café scene and the spellbinding counters of Parisian patisseries, Kate searched for something that would bring meaning and passion back into her life: a destination worth driving towards at full speed.
‘A truly inspiring story of tenacity and humility, of strength and vulnerability, of dreams shattered and achieved – told so eloquently, honestly and bravely (and with Kate’s wicked sense of humour). It is also a story of love – for her family, for her passions, and in the end for herself.’ Nicole Piastri
Kate Reid is a visionary entrepreneur and the founder of Lune Croissanterie. Her career path has been anything but conventional with Kate initially pursuing aerospace engineering at RMIT University before following her lifelong passion for Formula 1 racing. After three years, however, she realised that the reality of the job didn’t match her expectations, prompting her return to Melbourne with a fresh goal: to forge a career in pastry. Kate honed her skills at one of Paris' top bakeries before opening in 2012 Lune Croissanterie, In 2023 Kate was awarded the RMIT Honorary Doctorate of Business honoris causa.
Alex Sloan AM is an award winning journalist, panellist, MC and commentator whose extensive media career spans 30 years, including 27 years with ABC Radio. Alex is a Director and Deputy Chair of Australia's think-tank, The Australia Institute and a Director of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. In 2017 Alex was named ACT Citizen of the Year and in 2019 was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her significant service to the Canberra community and to the broadcast media as a radio presenter.
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Kate Reid was in conversation with Alex Sloan on her new book Destination Moon. A memoir of fast cars, French pastries and finding purpose. Destination Moon is an open-hearted memoir about passion and finding purpose from the woman whose mid-career, 180 degree turn, led her from the elite world of Formula 1 to opening in 2012 Melbourne's famous Lune Croissanterie, that has gone on to revolutionise the art of croissant-making.
At 13, Kate Reid already knew exactly where she was headed: a career in Formula 1, a life lived at full throttle. Like a master cartographer she had drawn the map of her future – all she had to do was follow the course she’d charted. But after earning a degree in aerospace engineering and taking up a coveted position at one of the top F1 teams in the UK, Kate discovered that the reality didn’t exactly live up to the dream. The pursuit of perfection that had once made her reach for the moon now sent her spiralling into a life-threatening battle against depression and anorexia.
From the grey skies of England and Monaco’s glittering, million-dollar harbour, to Melbourne’s trendy café scene and the spellbinding counters of Parisian patisseries, Kate searched for something that would bring meaning and passion back into her life: a destination worth driving towards at full speed.
‘A truly inspiring story of tenacity and humility, of strength and vulnerability, of dreams shattered and achieved – told so eloquently, honestly and bravely (and with Kate’s wicked sense of humour). It is also a story of love – for her family, for her passions, and in the end for herself.’ Nicole Piastri
Kate Reid is a visionary entrepreneur and the founder of Lune Croissanterie. Her career path has been anything but conventional with Kate initially pursuing aerospace engineering at RMIT University before following her lifelong passion for Formula 1 racing. After three years, however, she realised that the reality of the job didn’t match her expectations, prompting her return to Melbourne with a fresh goal: to forge a career in pastry. Kate honed her skills at one of Paris' top bakeries before opening in 2012 Lune Croissanterie, In 2023 Kate was awarded the RMIT Honorary Doctorate of Business honoris causa.
Alex Sloan AM is an award winning journalist, panellist, MC and commentator whose extensive media career spans 30 years, including 27 years with ABC Radio. Alex is a Director and Deputy Chair of Australia's think-tank, The Australia Institute and a Director of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. In 2017 Alex was named ACT Citizen of the Year and in 2019 was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her significant service to the Canberra community and to the broadcast media as a radio presenter.
Omar Musa was in conversation with Karen Viggers on his new novel Fierceland, a globe-spanning epic of power and family secrets.
How do you mourn your father when you know his secrets? After many years abroad, Roz and Harun return to Malaysian Borneo for the funeral of their father Yusuf – and to reckon with their inheritance. A renowned palm-oil baron during Malaysia’s economic rise, Yusuf built the family’s immense wealth by destroying huge tracts of rainforest. What his children know is that he was also responsible for the violent disappearance of a man who stood in his way.
Harun has become a successful tech entrepreneur in Los Angeles, Roz is an artist struggling to stay afloat in Sydney. Now they want to return something their father stole from the forests of their homeland. In their quest for redemption they grapple with the legacy of power and corruption, dreamers and exiles, thugs and zealots. Most dangerous of all, they are haunted – by the ghosts of colonialism, the ghosts of family, the ghosts of language, and the ghosts of the forest itself.
A trailblazing journey across the globe, Fierceland weaves the past and the present into an emotionally powerful family saga that plays out at a mythical scale.
'Potent and powerful, Fierceland is a shapeshifting novel of great reckoning; a brutal, beautiful study of wilderness within and without, of the ghosts that afflict and follow in the wake of family, legacy and complicity.' — Hannah Kent
Omar Musa is an author, visual artist and poet from Queanbeyan, New South Wales and is currently based in Borneo and Brooklyn.. He has released one novel, four books of poetry (including Killernova), five hip-hop records, and an acclaimed one man play, Since Ali Died. His work has appeared in The Best Australian Stories and Best of Australian Poems.
His debut novel, Here Come the Dogs, was long-listed for the International Dublin Literary Award and the Miles Franklin Award. He was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Young Novelists of the Year in 2015.
Karen Viggers is a Canberra writer, veterinarian, podcaster and literary critic who loves nature, bushwalking and animals. She is the author of four novels, which have been bestsellers in France as well as Australia: The Stranding, The Lightkeeper's Wife, The Grass Castle and The Orchardist's Daughter. Her work is set in Australian landscapes and explores dying with dignity, displacement of First Peoples, wildlife conservation, clear-felling of native forests, and now, junior sport. She is co-host with Irma Gold of the Secrets From the Green Room podcast.
Experience ANU
Kate Reid was in conversation with Alex Sloan on her new book Destination Moon. A memoir of fast cars, French pastries and finding purpose. Destination Moon is an open-hearted memoir about passion and finding purpose from the woman whose mid-career, 180 degree turn, led her from the elite world of Formula 1 to opening in 2012 Melbourne's famous Lune Croissanterie, that has gone on to revolutionise the art of croissant-making.
At 13, Kate Reid already knew exactly where she was headed: a career in Formula 1, a life lived at full throttle. Like a master cartographer she had drawn the map of her future – all she had to do was follow the course she’d charted. But after earning a degree in aerospace engineering and taking up a coveted position at one of the top F1 teams in the UK, Kate discovered that the reality didn’t exactly live up to the dream. The pursuit of perfection that had once made her reach for the moon now sent her spiralling into a life-threatening battle against depression and anorexia.
From the grey skies of England and Monaco’s glittering, million-dollar harbour, to Melbourne’s trendy café scene and the spellbinding counters of Parisian patisseries, Kate searched for something that would bring meaning and passion back into her life: a destination worth driving towards at full speed.
‘A truly inspiring story of tenacity and humility, of strength and vulnerability, of dreams shattered and achieved – told so eloquently, honestly and bravely (and with Kate’s wicked sense of humour). It is also a story of love – for her family, for her passions, and in the end for herself.’ Nicole Piastri
Kate Reid is a visionary entrepreneur and the founder of Lune Croissanterie. Her career path has been anything but conventional with Kate initially pursuing aerospace engineering at RMIT University before following her lifelong passion for Formula 1 racing. After three years, however, she realised that the reality of the job didn’t match her expectations, prompting her return to Melbourne with a fresh goal: to forge a career in pastry. Kate honed her skills at one of Paris' top bakeries before opening in 2012 Lune Croissanterie, In 2023 Kate was awarded the RMIT Honorary Doctorate of Business honoris causa.
Alex Sloan AM is an award winning journalist, panellist, MC and commentator whose extensive media career spans 30 years, including 27 years with ABC Radio. Alex is a Director and Deputy Chair of Australia's think-tank, The Australia Institute and a Director of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. In 2017 Alex was named ACT Citizen of the Year and in 2019 was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her significant service to the Canberra community and to the broadcast media as a radio presenter.
