Wednesday 22 September 2021

Take two: The Diaries of Miles Franklin, ed Paul Brunton

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This book came from mum and dad as one or the other of them bought it at Dymocks for $39.95. I presume it was the branch in Brisbane. The book contains, pressed in the front before the first page, a clipping from the 30 July 2005 edition of the Sydney Morning Herald. The article is a “Take two” feature about Barbara Blackman and Rebecca Gambirra Illume, who were friends when the author (the painter’s wife) was still alive. It was significant that I took this book off a shelf where it had been sitting since my move from Queensland because Barbara’s youngest son Barnaby, who was a pal of mine when I was at school, had just died. I learned about this event on Facebook. 

Either mum or dad had evidently cut the article from the newspaper and placed it there to keep. I’m not sure why it was done like this but it might’ve been that they just wanted both to keep the article for future reference and to have a bookmark to use in the present.

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