THE BOOKBINDER OF JERICHO – A SOMEWHAT SINGULAR REVIEW

THE BOOKBINDER OF JERICHO - A SOMEWHAT SINGULAR REVIEW

Shame on me for treating Pip Williams’ The Bookbinder of Jericho so badly. In my defense, it wasn’t in pristine  condition when I picked it up from our local street library. I was reading it among the giant rhododendrons in the park at Blackheath, in the Blue

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ENID BLYTON – TOUCHING A NOSTALGIC NERVE!

ENID BLYTON - TOUCHING A NOSTALGIC NERVE!

I recently wrote an article for this website about Enid Blyton. If you haven’t read it, here is the link.   It was inspired by  a piece I came across  in the wonderful  Australian newspaper archive  TROVE.  Written in  1952,  it was a reaction to the South Australian

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ENID BLYTON – A BLIGHT ON CHILDREN’S LITERATURE?

ENID BLYTON - A BLIGHT ON CHILDREN'S LITERATURE?

Enid Blyton was an integral part of my rural Tasmanian childhood, as she was for most ‘Baby Boomers’ around the world. In later life we discovered that the prolific author entertained us at  great cost to her own children, but that’s another story. My siblings and I

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Flora Drennan; the unlikely sprint star.

Flora Drennan; the unlikely sprint star.

Flora Drennan was an Australian national champion in the 100 yard sprint. However,  if you Google her in relation to this, you will have no success.  She won the title in 1908, far too early for  recognition among the  official female Australian Athletic Champions, recorded from 1930.

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RAILTON’S YOUNG POLIO VICTIMS

RAILTON'S YOUNG POLIO VICTIMS

Rebecca Lucas , from outside the small Tasmanian  town of Railton, was just seven years old when she suddenly fell ill in 1937. She was diagnosed with infantile paralysis (polio), as was her older  sister Winifred. The girls were admitted to the Devon Hospital at Latrobe for

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QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM’S GREATEST DEAL?

QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM'S GREATEST DEAL?

The Queen Victoria Museum in Launceston  is  a highly regarded institution, and the largest outside an Australian Capital City. A WINDFALL In 1904 Lady Clara Dry, wealthy widow of  Sir Richard Dry, the first Tasmanian born premier of the State, made a significant bequest of antiques. The

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