A Mark Twain imitation tribute to American journalist, environmentalist , activist and author Barbara James .
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| Barbara using reflected Sun's rays to cook. |
Born in Nebraska in l943, Barbara (nee ) Johnson, graduated with a degree in Arts, majoring in English and Education , a minor in Journalism and History. Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined waking up in a far away place like Darwin.
However, she came to Australia in 1965 and lobbed in Darwin during a tour the next year . Fate and car trouble led to her marrying Darwin lawyer Geoffrey James who came to her assistance .
Prolific Writer
Over the years , she worked as a reporter on the Murdoch Northern Territory News with the crusading editor " Big Jim" Bowditch , was a special writer on the independent Darwin Star , did extensive research for the NT Dictionary of Biography , contributed to the Australian Women's Diary and 200 Australian Women a Redress anthology , was associated with an early solar village, campaigned against demolition of the old Hotel Darwin.
For a time she worked at the ABC , represented the National Trust and was also involved with the CSIRO.
She also kept an eye on American politics and was deeply involved in Territory politics - press secretary and adviser to the ALP Leader of the Opposition ,Bob Collins, later a Territory Senator . She also spent time as an adviser to the Northern Territory Chief Minister, Clare Martin .
The writer of this post had frequent contact with her over the years and was given a bulky file containing many of the NT oral history features she wrote for The Star, one headed DARWIN WAS' DODGE CITY' , about wild demonstrations during the Depression .
Camel Accident
In l981 she was thrown from a camel in Alice Springs and was bedridden for almost a year .
A book she wrote, No Man's Land : Women in the Northern Territory, was made into a play.
This blog's files include emails from Barbara James seeking help from us in her research in several projects ,one involving two women who may have been involved in production of an embroidered Federation cloth in the Darwin Museum .
In turn, she carried out inteviews for us which provided information about the time author Xavier Herbert , who wrote the novels Capricornia and Poor Fellow My Country, was in the Top End.
In an email dated November 30 , 2000, Barbara wrote that "my world's turned topsy turvey " as she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. In the short term, she was hopeful of doing research in Adelaide archives.
Barbara underwent chemo ; elated over a Clare Martin election victory , she threw her wig into the air . She died March 31, 2003 , aged 59.
Her valuable support and outstanding contribution to the status of NT women was highlighted in public death notices. Barbara James House ,accommodation for cancer sufferers , near the Royal Darwin Hospital , was named after her.
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