Tuesday, March 27, 2018

QUEEN AND GROUCHO MARX ATTENDED BUBBLY EDITORIAL CONFERENCES

More  anecdotes  from  the  life  of   Margaret Vine
Deeply   concerned about the  care  and  protection of  Magnetic Island's wildlife, Margaret Vine   fed  a large  number of  Wallabies, Kookaburras and Curlews, all of which had  names  drawn  from  opera , Shakespeare  and  the  classics. 
 
By Peter Simon
 
Hanging  on her  wall  was  a  Clifton Pugh  painting  of a  Wombat, perhaps even  his pet one. He illustrated the book Death of a Wombat which showed  what  bushfires did to the  wildlife of Australia. The artist's home in the bush at Dunmoochin , Victoria,   became an  animal sanctuary and attracted  a colony  of artists .

Alarmed by  the condition of a  newly hatched   Curlew chick, Margaret contacted  an animal carer , dubbed the Queen of the Jungle, who had a  long involvement   with    Curlews  and   Torres Strait  Pigeons .

 As  it happened  , I drove the  Queen  of  the  Jungle  to   the Vine residence to  look at the  bird . Upon arrival  , she  was informed  it looked as if  it had died . Picking it up, after a  quick  examination,  the  Queen    held  the  ball of  fluff  up to her mouth and blew into its beak . Much  to  the  delight  of all  ,  the bird moved. The   Curlew was  transported to the  Queen's residence , named   Margaret  after  Margaret Vine ,  and   hand  reared  .

 Eventually the  female bird matched  up  with  one  named Spikey , became" strange" when another   female  appeared on  the  scene ,  flew  away .

Margaret  Vine , skilled at editing , assisted   the Queen  of the Jungle   compile an information  pamphlet ,The Cry of the  Curlew , above ,  put together   over many editorial  sessions , at  a  round  table   in  the open ,  at   Margaret's  place,   fine champagne , choice  cheeses  and  other  delicacies  provided .

One of the Curlews which strolled  about nearby  during these  sessions was  named  Groucho Marx  , because he  had  big eyes, walked like him and Margaret  added  he was   grumpy by nature .Thousands of  the  Curlew  leaflets have been handed out on the island  to visitors . Two days ago, the Queen of the Jungle  pulled out  a   plastic wallet  containing   drafts  of  the  leaflet  with  many  handwritten   notes ,  an unusual  bundle  of  island  history .

A Possum which  scampered about  demanding   attention from Margaret  bore  a name  from   opera .  It  could have  been  the one  which   reached  up  and grabbed  a  delicacy from the hand of  a woman , one of two  friends   from south , Margaret was  entertaining , champagne   flowing  .

During the editorial sessions  Margaret  pointed out many of the named, inquisitive  Wallabies  which hopped about in the   nearby large granite boulders , able to leap onto  the  flat  roof  of  the  house .
 
 A considerable  amount of money was spent by  her   feeding the  wildlife: large bags of mixed  seed , pellets  , carrots , stir fried  steak  cut into  tiny pieces for  the  Kookas . Quite some time ago,  when she seemed   healthier ,  she told me she  felt like writing  about her many  pets, which  included   more  than  40  Wallabies .
 
Without  him knowing , I offered the   services of  illustrator , author and  film maker  Peter Burleigh , who had written  the Bulldust Diaries  , about   a  car safari with friends across  North Australia in search of the elusive barramundi  , for  this blog . I am sure,  said   I , Burleigh would be  only to happy to illustrate  her   wildlife special .

There was  a  subsequent  surprise   response  to my  unauthorised  use  of  Burleigh's  brush .  Margaret emphatically  told me she would not like her  pets subjected to any satirical treatment . Taken aback , I wondered what  had  sparked this  statement . I could only surmise  she  had looked at  the Bulldust  Diaries and  had  been  shocked  by  the animal  drawings , one  shocker   below .
NEXT: An  insight into  Margaret  Vine's   extensive research  into Australian art , Queensland  regional  history  and   her  strict  editorial  standards.