Writers Voice September 2011 - Fellowship of Australian Writers NSW

Helen and Johan with members of the Lake Macquarie Branch.
Back Row: Tony Lang, Roz Buckingham, Gail Hennessy, Grace Gazzara,
Johan Luidens, Linda Visman, Helen Marshall and Vicki Norton.
Front Row: Helen Luidens, Rina Robinson and Jan Mitchell.
Vice-President visits the
Lake Macquarie Group
Helen and Johan Luidens visited the Lake Macquarie
FAW branch at their meeting on Saturday, 2nd July.
Helen, Vice President of NSW FAW, talked about
the structure of the State Council, the Committee of
Management and of the roles of their members. She
also reminded us that they are all volunteers and most
travel long distances to attend meetings. She gave us
a good rundown on what our membership fees cover,
apart from the Writers Voice, which she urged us to read
regularly. She also spoke of the importance of having
insurance for the conduct of group activities. Her talk
was very informative, and we were grateful to have that
contact with the NSW committee.
Following afternoon tea, Helen led us in a free writing
activity. This produced results that surprised even the
writers themselves. Helen and Johan both gave critique
on our pieces after each was read aloud. They were
impressed with the high standard of writing from our
group, and with the willingness of our members to read
their work aloud.
Jan Mitchell, President, Lake Macquarie Branch
Branches celebrate anthology launch events
Port Stephens writers singing the opening poem “Time and Tide” set to auld lang syne.
L-R: Annette Jones (Sec), Christine Gregory (Pres), Janice Love (VP) on guitar, Rona Tilden,
Peter Golden, Bruce Flanagan, Wendy Zirngast (book illustrator).
VaLe
Greg Porter
1912-2011
Greg and Lyn Porter joined the Port Macquarie­
Hastings Branch of the Fellowship in 1990
after transferring from the Manly Branch in Sydney
where they were foundation members. As a
fledgling member I was impressed by their regular
contributions to our monthly assignments, Greg
often from his experiences in WWII or as a senior
accountant in the United Nations World Health
Organisation serving in Geneva, India, Lebanon,
Afghanistan etc. Until she died in the mid­90s
Lyn’s speciality was poetry with a gentle message.
In our 1992 Anthology ‘Reflections’ Greg
contributed a poem ‘Come Sailing with Me’ – “The
Sea, Mighty Sea, how I love the Sea”. His love of
flying was equally great as he flew the Dawn Flight
every Anzac Day for several years with his friend
and fellow FAW member Vern Polley. In our 2000
anthology ‘Writes of the Hastings’ Greg contributed
a magnificent story ‘Concorde Supersonic’ – “The
afterburners are switched off as we continue to
Mach 2.0 at 50,000 feet”.
For two decades Greg served as our honorary
auditor and sponsored a poetry prize for our
annual literary competition. In his last assignment
at age 99 Greg described how, too poor to afford
a wedding reception, he and Lyn had eloped on a
Sydney ferry. Greg will be sadly missed.
Frank Urban
Judi ‘Martinelli’ Rasmussen, contributor to the
‘Kandos Moments’ anthology and painter of the
cover design, at the Kandos launch.
Visit us on the Internet at www.fawnsw.org.au WRITERS’ VOICE 233—SEPTEMBER 2011 17