Iain McCalman was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi) in Africa in 1947. Although a third-generation African - his family is descended in part from Australians who fought with the Australian Light Horse in the Boer War - McCalman grew up knowing he would eventually have to leave Africa. His father, a Kenyan-raised British civil servant, "was very liberal for his time," says McCalman. "He always told us European colonials were caretakers, not owners, and we'd have to go one day. It really irritated my sister and me. Africa was our home. But he never bought property, always prepared us to leave."