“I love these potted histories,” said a workshop attendee last week as she gently tapped a quote on the back of one of my books. I always print a poignant quote from my story-teller on my back covers, a quote which evokes their story in just a few words. Potting a life story into a
“The world is a book and those that do not travel only read one page.” -St Augustine A wise friend recently added, “But it’s good to have a bookmark,” meaning, it’s good to have a place you can always go back to. Weaving through our life stories, it’s the places we always go back to
“Can Australians find a story that embraces all of us?” This is the question Stan Grant tackles in his brilliant new book, Australia Day. Stan embraces his duality: on the one side was John Grant, an Irishman who at the age of 17 was committed to life in Australia and on the other side
Last month I wrote about the majesty of The Wall at Derwent Bridge, Tasmania. The Wall shows the beauty of history in the making and makes the point that we should each write our own story. The Wall has another powerful message: There is hope for the future. One of the panels lists endemic Tasmanian
The Sistine Chapel, The Louvre, The Met, The Wall. Of these, The Wall by Greg Duncan in Derwent Bridge, Tasmania, spoke to me the loudest. When I visited The Wall earlier this month I was awe-struck by its majesty, Duncan’s craftmanship and the fact that it is literally history in the making. It is a
I found myself squinting at shorelines as I travelled around NSW this summer holidays. Try it! Stand at a shoreline or any breathtaking vista and squint. All of the man-made additions in your view will blur and disappear, leaving just pristine nature, the view our ancestors would have seen. The view from the Three Sisters
I love my work so much that I keep forgetting to clock on. Now that my three children are all high school graduates, I often think about how kids today can find their way through the myriad of careers out there to find their raison d’être. The stories that I uncover from my questions as
Yesterday we marked 100 years since the end of WWI. 100 years sounds like a long time but time is relative. When I was born WWII had been over for 18 years. All of my life I had filed WWII away in my mind as being a long, long time ago. Recently though I compared
“Ossie Clark was a famous designer in the 60s and 70s and he made these jumpsuits for me. They’re super comfortable. You have to be in good shape to wear them because you can’t come out with a belly.… I hope that young bands see the benefit in keeping going.” Keith Richards’ reaction to the
Wendy Whiteley believes that “Our lives are shaped by the places we live.” In 1969 Wendy and Brett Whiteley visited a friend in a run-down house in Lavender Bay, Sydney. Lavender Bay, for those that don’t know, is on the Sydney Harbour, which back then was an industrial site and a bit of a dump.