METHOD IN A MOTHER’S MADNESS In December 1841 a ragged woman entered a London shoe shop, brazenly picked up several items and walked out. It was a theft that made no sense at all; she had taken a random couple of boots and a single clog! The
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A DAY OUT FOR EDITOR DES (THAT’S ME) Well one day my guardian Pauline Conolly took me to Sydney as a special treat. Now she loves going to the State Library, but I don’t (boooooring!!) I was pretty p…..d off when we ended up there (sorry, I
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THE MATRIARCH My paternal grandmother was born Alice Maud Singleton, at rural Sassafras in northern Tasmania (June 20 1884). She was a Victorian through and through. Just add pride, vanity and her strict Methodist faith and there we have dear old Grandma. My other three grandparents had
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WRITING TO SANTA IS A SERIOUS BUSINESS; AN ILLUSTRATED ESSAY BY EDITOR DES…. ER, THAT’S ME! Well here is a letter to Santa written by a little Australian boy called Paddy, over a hundred years ago. Who do you think Paddy was? (see answer at the bottom
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CHRISTMAS DOWN-UNDER John O’Grady once wrote a best selling book called, They’re a Weird Mob. It was about Australians and yes….we are a bit strange. What do you expect when we live in an upside down world? Alice in Wonderland described our fair country as; WHERE
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On April 26 1915, the day after the dawn landing at Gallipoli, Sapper Duncan McRae (2nd Field Co. of Engineers) was shot in the shoulder by a Turkish sniper. He was evacuated to Egypt and from there to a military hospital in England. Unfortunately it was
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When Australian artist and writer Norman Lindsay first saw what was to become his home near Springwood in the lower Blue Mountains of New South Wales, the sandstone cottage was sadly neglected. The floor boards were full of white ants. Nevertheless, Lindsay reported to his wife (and
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THE WORST TOURIST IS A TINY ONE During the off-season, invading armies of visitors withdraw from the museums and galleries of Europe to be replaced by assault squads of schoolchildren. I find them more alarming than bag snatchers. They knock people over and make a great deal
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My partner Rob and I were looking through some old holiday pics the other day. Suddenly he held one up and said dreamily, ‘I remember that place; it was fantastic.’ As I glanced at what seemed a fairly nondescript town centre he added, ‘It’s where I found
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SIENA: JEWEL OF TUSCANY Some years ago my partner Rob and I hired a car and toured the Italian province of Tuscany. One evening we checked into a charming little hotel tucked behind the Campo within beautiful Siena’s medieval walls. However, there was a small
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