From the library of prodigious Australian art researcher and collector , Margaret Vine, late of Magnetic Island , is the above 1989 Penguin paperback which was the result of Helen Daniel, freelance critic and reviewer , second -hand book dealer, inviting writers to contribute stories based on artist Jeffrey Smart's painting, Cahill Expressway ,Sydney.
The book includes Margaret's penned in name on the title page , with the ticked off names of most of the authors in the contents list . It was surprising to discover that on page 26 Margaret had literally exploded , inserting three large exclamation marks, in relation to a paragraph that said a girl in Perth , the brightest in her class , was almost as bright as some of the boys . See below offending , underlined statement in Our Town , by Glenda Adams .
A feminist , a bright school pupil who won awards, Margaret had missed out going straight to university because she was a girl , her father informing her so. Later on she put herself through Arts at Queensland University. Over time she became a highly regarded researcher at the National Gallery , Canberra, moved in art and university circles in Brisbane , the large tome Documents on Australian International Affairs 1901 -1918 , edited by Gordon Greenwood and Charles Grimshaw, l977, acknowledged her assistance on the title page under her then married name , Margaret Willis.
So it can be seen that the statement in the story must have been like a red rag to a bull , the outrage extending to the back of the book biographical info. on the contributing writers, Glenda Adams at the top of the list, with Margaret's added comment - the " MCP" seemingly standing for male chauvinist pig.
UPCOMING : Margaret Vine's margin notes on Wuthering Heights, maybe some of her other gems .
