This program has just celebrated its 35 Year Anniversary in November. 35 years ago I was approached by the then General Manager of Dymocks, Greg Milne, to start the program. He and I had worked at Myer previously and had started a similar program, which our National Book Buyer had seen in Foyles in London.
Our first event was for the wonderful Australian writer Morris West and soon after that we were lucky enough to have Roald Dahl visiting Australia and he was a speaker at our third event in 1989. I was pregnant with my daughter Laura , so she likes to think that she met Roald Dahl.
People ask me who are some of my favourites and he would have to be one. I have been so very fortunate to meet so many amazing people from all walks of life- they’ve all written a book ( some of course are co-written) and have remarkable stories to tell. Some of the best are not household names, but their stories are inspiring.
I can count on one hand the few that were disappointing but of course I hope to do this job for a while longer so I can’t divulge their names. Maybe when I retire!
There have been so many highlights from amazing actors like Jane Fonda and Michael Caine, to musical theatre greats Michael Crawford and Tim Rice, sporting stars like Ash Barty and Shane Warne, Prime Ministers- John Howard , Julia Gillard and Gough Whitlam, adventurers like Ranulph Fiennes and Sir Edmund Hillary, culinary stars like Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver and Bill Granger and of course some of the world’s best storytellers like John Le Carre, Lee Child, Frederick Forsyth and Isabel Allende.
One of my special memories was of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I had organised an acapella group to sing the New South African National Anthem at the luncheon and the tears just rolled down his cheeks. He was a very special man.
One of the things I love best about the program is that is provides an opportunity for like-minded people to meet others at a relaxed and interesting event. Many people over the years have started coming by themselves and lovely friendships have developed.
We do about 20 event every year. Covid was a challenging time but we managed to squeeze in quite a few events between lock downs. People were desperate to get out and in a safe manner. Hats off to the Four Seasons Hotel which we used throughout that period and have used since the program first began. They have been amazingly supportive of our program as have many other hotels in the city of Sydney.
This year in 2024 we take to the high seas partnering with Cunard for the Inaugural Literature cruise – five nights to Hobart and back from the 11th December to the 16th December. The amazing Alexander McCall Smith is heading out from the UK to join us on the cruise. Very exciting.
Coming up this year we have Kate Ceberano. Kathy Lette, Rosie Batty, Graeme Simsion and Dervla McTiernan, to name a few. If you want to join our Event club and be notified of our events go to www.dymocks.com.au/events
Featured image : Judy Benson, Robyn Davidson