In front of the neat freshly painted cottage in New Town, Hobart a cramped garden of excellent roses harmonised well with a contrast of native shrubs. The shining brass knocker gave a muffled echo, the door opened and bright, bubbly Annie welcomed me inside.
Annie Warburton
Would you like a drink? Coffee, beer?
The first question came from Annie. I opted for coffee. Annie chose a glass of red, squatted yoga fashion on the centre of a lounge chair and lit a
cigarello. I relaxed in a comfortable arm chair. Annie lauded the house which is old style remodelled to a modern functional abode. The contemporary
decor contrasted favourably with framed photographs of forebears gazing on the scene with splendid Edwardian solemnity.
Annie anticipated my first question, answering in a soft resonant voice.
Annie Warburton
I hail from Melbourne. My father was from Tasmania. He moved to Melbourne where he met and married my mother. My paternal grandparents lived here and I
have aunts living in Launceston. I attended St. Benedict's Convent school in Burwood and the University of Melbourne where I graduated with degrees in Arts
and Law. I majored in Russian language and literature. My interest in Russian arose from music and literature my Dad brought back from a scientific
congress he had attended in Finland. I had done really well studying French, so I thought I'd learn another language – it's easy! Russian turned out to be much
harder than French, but I didn't discover that till later. Also at the time I was going through a sort of Bolshie phase. (Weren't we all I agreed).
JM
When did you come to Tasmania?
AW
In June 1990 from Darwin. I went to Darwin after graduation to do my articles with Paul Everingham. I was offered a job in Legal Aid and worked with them for five
and a half years. I really enjoyed this phase of my life as I leaned to the left, not radical left, but more of a 'help the poor and underprivileged'
type of left. Much of the defence in the Lindy Chamberlain case was conducted through the Legal Aid office and I was absolutely convinced that
Lindy was innocent and that after the verdict there had been a miscarriage of justice. Disillusionment with the law after the Chamberlain case, plus a
degree of 'burn-out' from the incessant workload, led to my decision to quit the law, although I didn't intend it to be permanent at the time. As well,
I was beginning to develop a very jaundiced view of human nature from constant association with crims. I found myself thinking that
everybody in the world except me, my family, my friends and the cops is a drunken, thieving, violent no-hoper. I knew it was time to quit.
JM
Why broadcasting? How did you come to the ABC?
AW
I lived in Darwin for fourteen years, seven as a lawyer and seven with the ABC. I quit the Legal Aid office in 1983 and started casual work in radio
and this evolved into a new career. In 1990 I answered an advertisement for a job in Hobart and here I am. I have some family here, some good friends
and a relationship with a chap but we don't live together. I want to live on my own and I want to do some writing.
I enjoy broadcasting in Hobart. The audience is generally supportive and positive. I experience cranks occasionally and I can handle criticism better now than I used to.
As a young woman I was self conscious, but have overcome that angst. As I've grown older I've become basically a happy person and wiser I think. I
meet and interview lots of interesting people. Broadcasting is a little like creative writing; material needs to be researched in order to ask appropriate
questions during a 'live' session. Ad libbing when a guest on the show is inarticulate can be a dilemma in order to put them at ease. Coaching questions and answers from
prepared material is just like writing a script. It is creative.
JM
Let's talk about writing then.
AW
As a young woman I dreamed more about being a writer than actually doing it. At Uni there was a lot of writing – not necessarily creative though – when doing a degree.
In Darwin I was secretary to the Press Club for about a year. I wrote an article about being a woman working with a boat builder for the Sailing Club newsletter.
I did have aspirations to become a serious, if not famous, writer and to set the world on fire. But sitting before a typewriter and staring at a blank
sheet of A4 did nothing towards realising that ambition. Then at a social function one evening in 1993 I was chatting with Ian McCausland, the editor of
The Mercury, and I queried re writing for the paper. He told me to submit to him two 1,000 word articles. For the first time then I sat at the typewriter, wrote
an article which was published and I was paid for it. I was over the moon! Since then I've written about 100 articles for The Mercury and other publications
including The Financial Review.
I don't write poetry or short fiction as they are not really my style, but I enjoy reading them. I remember lots of poems learnt at school and can recite passages
at will but writing poetry is not my forte at all. My first real appreciation came when I read a Dylan Thomas poem and it brought tears to my eyes. In a quite obvious
way Thomas introduced word play in rhyme and metre. I don't think I have ever read anything so artful. I read Shakespeare and enjoy the speech by John O'Gaunt about
England. I read it often, it gives me goose pimples.
I can't understand much contemporary poetry and I'm not one for symbolism and the metaphysical. I like poetry in which the meaning is evident. As far as fiction is
concerned I don't really do creative writing per se. The regular writing I do is published in newspapers and I like that, it is good exposure. Oscar Wilde said that
there was no bad publicity.
JM
What about future writing, perhaps a book?
AW
I'm quite relaxed about writing now, but I don't think of myself as writer, although I produce 1,000 words for The Mercury without much
hassle. The article published in The Financial Review was a serious essay concerned with what's wrong with the law. A piece I wrote for The Mercury
about Weary
Dunlop was also serious, but for the most part I am interested in comedy. I write in a flippant, non serious style and tend to see the funny side in everything.
What I would love to be able to do is write a satirical novel about the public serice or the ABC. Something along the lines of Harold Jacobson's 'Coming From
Behind', a novel about life in a red-brick university in the UK with its political correctness and the veiled ambitions of the characters in the story.
No I'm not a member of a writer's group but one of the good friends I have made since being in Tasmania is Andrew Sant. I would rather go around and have a few drinks
with Andrew or go to his parties where I can meet writers and chat to them there. I don't like group readings, I am a little shy about that.
I have been using a typewriter and I never envisaged using a computer, but now I have this one here. It is a dinosaur by computer standards, a really
old Macintosh, but I consider it brilliant for writing. I am not
really skilled in cybernetics and muddle along quite well with it for the most part. I am not into the information superhighway either so this processor will do at
the present time. It has distinct advantages over the old typewriter. Oh yes I have drawers full of files, notes, thoughts, clippings, I think all writers do that.
A lot of such information can be stored in the processor, just waiting to be recalled – if you know how.
JM
Tell me about writing for The Mercury. Where and when do the ideas precipitate?
AW
Well, inspiration can come at any time. For instance, I read something the other day in a newspaper about movie cliches – you know, the baddies are always rotten shots,
the hero always recovers from massive injury, people never say 'goodbye' on the phone, etc. I started collecting examples of this and when I have enough I'll do a column. I did three
columns about 'Tasmanianisms' this way. After the first one people responded and reminded (or told) me of others and I spun a yarn out of that.
Sometimes it is more personal, as when I wrote about my trip to the gun club, or my reaction to Weary Dunlop's death, or what happened when the burglar alarm went
off near my house and the police said they couldn't do anything, or why I quite the gym. I do a lot of sorting out of my thoughts when walking to and from work,
or even when just pottering around the house. I've learned that almost anything can be parlayed into a story if you think about it and the humour of it, or the
common humanity, or the sadness, or whatever.
I also write a lot about language because it is a particular interest of mine and this always gets a good response. I can't do it every week though as it does
require a bit of research and a bit more care than when I'm just writing about my day-to-day matters.
JM
Do you write about women's issues, or are you associated with women's groups?
AW
No, I have never experienced inequality in either professional or temporal situations. For example, when in Darwin I helped with the building of sail boats. I was
completely unskilled in this regard and had never been associated with the manufacture or construction of anything before. I felt quite at home with the blokes on
the job. They were helpful and unpatronising. I gained knowledge and skills that had previously been unavailable to me. The boat building yard was in an industrial
area of Darwin and I mixed with people employed in industrial occupations and activities. From the experience I wrote an article for the yacht club newsletter
about my experience of working in a man's world of manufacturing. This received positive feed-back, particularly from the yachties' wives. I participated in
a blokey world of construction, steel, timber and big machinery which was all new to me. I learnt procedures which had previously been foreign and unfamiliar. It was a
memorable, illuninating experience.
No, I have never been associated with feminist writers' groups. The professional organisations to which I belong are non intimidating. I consider myself
a liberated woman. Militant feminists are not my scene. In fact I am extremely put off by many aspects of modern feminism. I find affirmative action policy destructive,
counter productive and damaging to women. I especially hate the puritanical cruelty in some aspects of the feminist movement which could be clasified modern McCarthyism.
Feminism should be about equality and comradeship between men and women.
JM
How do you handle criticism of your ABC sessions and also your writing?
AW
The golden rule for anyone in broadcasting is to record your voice and then listen to a playback. I always found that an excruciating thing to do. It even goes back
further than that to when I first started in a legal office. All documents, letters and instructions to secretaries were entered into a dictaphone and I felt so
self conscious about the sound of my own voice that I used to close the office door. When I first went to the ABC I spoke too quickly and my supervisor gave me
excellect constructive criticism that wasn't threatening or embarrassing. Other ABC trainers have been just as valuable, but I don't get that sort of feedback from my
supervisors any more.
I encounter a few critical remarks about some of my programme material. You have to accept that not everyone is going to like you or the content of an interview,
particularly on a precarious subject. Most letters or phone calls received tend to be positive which is nice.
It is the same with writing a column. Sometimes you may tend to antagonise quite severely. You have to accept that some people just don't like your personality. The thing
is to let it roll off you, not let it debilitate you. It can be a bruise to your ego but it is a part of life. I do enjoy positive feedback though, I'm a sucker for
flattery.
JM
Do you read much? What do you read?
AW
I'm an avid reader. I read a lot of the classics in my youth, then I had a liking for the spy writers Fleming and Le Carre. I think the Fleming bit was because
my girl friends and I had a crush on Sean Connery and his 007 exploits. Now I prefer contemporary writing and find it more seductive. I especially like biography
and autobiography. Some recent examples: Marianne Faithful, ex girlfriend of Mick Jagger, Phoolan Devi, the so called 'Bandit Queen' of India, Charles Darwin,
and Paul Simon as in Simon & Garfunkle.
I also like reading popular science, especially biology. My late father was a Doctor of Science and encouraged me to read technical works. I like Richard Leakey's
'The Origin of Humankind',
Derek Denton's 'The Pinnacle of Life', Jared Diamond's 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee' (that's us). Anthropology is also a favorite and one of the books
I've
enjoyed most in the past year has been 'The Man in the Ice' about the Iron Age corpse found in the Swiss Alps. When I read fiction these days it would probably be
women's writing such as Helen Garner,
or Edna O'Brien, Anita Brookner or Kate Grenville. Garner's controversial best-seller 'The First Stone' about the Ormond College affair, might be where my feelings
on the new, cruel feminism originates. I also love linguistics and possess a collection of books about the history of English. I buy anything on the subject and
most recently
the brilliant works of Bill Bryson whom I met at the (Salamanca) Writers' Festival.
I subscribe to Australian Sceptics magazine, founded by Dick Smith and Phillip Adams. This group debunks activities such as iridology, astrology,
horoscopy etc. Articles in the magazine are scathing but seriously lighthearted in tone. I am working on a piece for the magazine at the moment.
JM
I see that you have a collection of recordings and tapes. What sort of music do you prefer?
AW
Oh I'm quite pervasive with music. I like Mozart and Glen Miller, Beethoven and Al Bowlly. In my collection there are many classical tapes and recordings, folk/world
music, trad jazz and big band swing. I listen to music when relaxing and choose a piece to suit my mood at the time. Probably top of my list would be folk or folk-based
traditional music, though I like it dressed up with modern production techniques. A perfect example of what I mean would be Loreena McKennitt. I love the way musical
traditions are allowed to blend and swap material these days. Some modern favourites are Paul Kelly, Crowded House, Sheryl Crow to name a few and my favourite CD is a
collection of traditional songs by Catherine Anne McPhee. I quite often use a walkman tape player when walking to and from work or just walking around for exercise.
JM
Have you travelled overseas for pleasure or perhaps as a foreign correspondent?
AW
Yes I've had a couple of overseas trips and visited the UK, Ireland, Europe and America. I've also been to Algeria and across the (then) Soviet Union on the
Trans-Siberian Railway. I enjoy travelling immensely and would like to live or work for a while in a foreign country if the opportunity arose. I spent some time in
and around
Indonesia and its islands during my yachtie stage in Darwin.
Jm
Are you into aerobics and keep fit programmes? What are your social activities and interests?
AW
Well physical games, competitive sport and aerobics don't interest me much. Walking is my main activity. I walk to and from work and I can relax while walking. I
generally chat to people on the walk, neighbourly gossip about gardens, local roadworks or the weather. It is all a part of the joy of walking. I am basically a happy
person and I like meeting people. Then there is the garden, I am a keen gardener. I started with zero knowledge and still consider myself very much a learner.
My very favourite pastime is cooking. I am a good cook and experiment into various style of cooking. I enjoy having my own house for my own pleasure and my own space.
Although not reclusive I am content to be by myself and select my own relaxing medium, be it music, reading or writing. As a student I was a real party girl and enjoyed
going to pubs, singing Irish or Scottish folk songs. Now I like to have guests for dinner in this cottage. I cook for friends when they come around, drink wine
and relax with conversation till late. It's good fun.
I entered my car. Annie, framed in the front doorway, waved. It was as if one of her forebears' photos had bid farewell.
J McD: 28th April 1995