Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2011

SPOTLIGHT

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At a time when female journalists were assigned the 'women's pages' , Hazel wrote about social events, fashions, and celebrities. These themes a ll cu lm inated in the h igh light of her jou rna lism ca reer in the northern hemisphere summer of 1953; Hazel had a box seat to the most important h istorica I occasion in the Com monwea lth of Nations - the Coronation of the young Queen Elizabeth ll at Westminster Abbey. Owing to space constraints in the Abbey, jou rna lists were a llocated seating in a n annexe, but Hazel - resplendent in a long, formal gown and hired diamon d tiara - was seated in the Abbey itself with the Peeresses of the Realm. Enthralled by the magnificence of the ceremony and the radiance of the 'dainty' Queen , Nazel experienced an incongruous moment when her tiara was her passport to preientiousness, She was instructed to avail herself of the 'Peeresses' lavatory, rather than that assigned for mere 'Women'. An Austra lian f armer's da ughter sha ring a toilet with international aristocratic derrieres a ppea led to her iron ic sense of h u mou r, During her five-year London sojou rn, Nazel covered many notable events - garden pa rties at B uckingha m Pa lace, the Roya I Ascot horse races and the Paris fashion parades. And she met many famous people, such as Sir Winston Churchill, and fashion designers Christian Dior and Norman Hartnell (Brown ,2004, p.79).

Although Bill passed away suddenly in 1988, llazel had a happy retirement and still considered herself 'very lucky'. ln 1990 she visited Girls G rammar for the fifty year reunion celebration of the class of 1940 in recognition of her role as Form Mistress d u ring that year. Hazel passed away in December 2009, aged ninety-five. Throughout her long and accom plished life, she a lways ma inta ined her deep affection for and sense of belonging to Girls Gram mar. Hazel's bequest has been invested in the School's Future Fund - a gift that will, fittingly, benefit Gram mar girls in perpetuity. MS MICHELLE JAMES P lt i / an t ltr op i c Pr ogramm e s M an ager Witlt tltanks to Mr John lreland and Mr Don Muirltead, Hazel Tully's nepltevts, a:lto proaided her autobiograpltical profle and additional information for tltis article. References: Brown. M. (2004). Charmian and George: The Marriage of George Johnston and Charmian Clift. Dural, NSW: Rosenberg Publishing. Tully, H. (1959, November 4). Fabulous Fabian likes school. The Australian Women's Weekly, Teenagers' Weekly supplement. Retrieved Ja nuary 14, 20II, f ro m hllp : I I nla . gov . au I nl a . n ews -a rlicle$A7 9 6612

On Hazel and Bill's return to Sydney in 1955, she rejoined the Sun, leaving in 1959 to join The Australian Women's Weekly as a sub-editor. One of her early assignments for the Weekly combined both of her professions, ln 1959, the popular singer and actor Fabian toured Auslralia. At only sixteen years old, the teen idol needed a tutor while on tour. Hazel was assigned as his'tooter', as the Americans expressed it (Tully, 1959), an encounter that she wrote about as a feature article for the magazine, Her amused account of 'Fabulous Fabian' being'mobbed' by 'swooning' female fans only to later reveal himself as a n 'average sixteen-year- old schoolboy' earnestly telling her that he was'real serious about school' is at odds with the 'hip' image promoted by his Svenga li-type ma nager (Tu lly, 1959). Hazel was promoted to Features Editor at the Weekly and, in the latter part of her th irty-f ive-year jou rna lism ca reer, she travelled extensively for the magazine. She escorted trips to Asia, Europe and a world tour as a celebrity host of the Women's Weekly World Discovery Tours. The unassuming Nazel found her nonsensical'celebrity' status quite a m usi ng, Nazel a lways ma inta ined she was 'born lucky'. But, as poet Emily Dickinson wrote, 'Luck is not cha nce, it is toil; fortu ne's expensive smile is earned' . Hazel's life exemplifies Samuel Goldwyn's pithy dictum: 'The harder I work the luckier I get'.

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