Launch of The Modern Womans Anthology 2010

The Modern Woman’s Anthology 2010was launched by the wife of the (then!) Prime Minister, Therese Rein, on 22nd June 2010 at Customs House, Sydney. It would probably have been one of her last official functions and with very little gap between the launch of the book and the launch of her husband Kevin Rudd into political turmoil, it was a close thing! However, the true professional that she is, Therese Rein gave no indication of the troubles ahead and gave a wonderful speech to launchThe Modern Woman’s Anthology 2010.

Palmer Higgs has been delighted to be involved with the publishing ofThe Modern Woman’s Anthologysince its early days. The project began when Sydney journalist Leah Greengarten, decided to create a permanent record of personal stories from prominent and interesting Australian women. The result is an extraordinary literary project which brings together a unique collection of stories, musings and memoirs from contributing writers such as Olympian Cathy Freeman, Media Commentator and GP Dr Cindy Pan and Chairman and Executive Director of the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Dr Gene Sherman. These women have penned their thoughts about Woman in the Modern World in a project to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute to assist with their priceless work in mental health.

The packed-out event was hosted by Wendy Harmer and speakers included the Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore MP, Executive Director of the Black Dog Institute, Professor Gordon Parker, and contributing writer Professor Deborah Brennan. Therese Rein has a particular interest in the book, being not only (obviously!) a modern woman but also as a trained psychologist with a specialisation in the field of clinical depression. During her speech she pointed out her “surprise wrinkle” which had developed - caused by her raised eyebrow as she read the collection of remarkable stories.

The choice of Wendy Harmer as the MC was an inspired one as she added her great sense of humour to the proceedings. In response to a comment in the book by one of the contributors, Kathryn Eismann, that “...the greatest journeys in life aren’t the ones we plan (or pack) for” Wendy offered the comment that she was such a bad packer for journeys that she would be better off “picking up the luggage of a Pakistani cricketer at the airport carousel by mistake”! Prof. Gordon Parker also added to the humour by recalling previous speaking engagements where he had been introduced as the Executive Director of the “Mad Dog” Institute and the “Black God” Institute. So despite the overriding mission of raising money for a cause associated with depression, the launch was light-hearted and lively.

The light-hearted theme continued at a lunch attended by the writers, the editors Leah and Talia, and Paul, Debbie and Julie from Palmer Higgs. The lunch was at Cafe Sydney in Customs House which provides a wonderful view of the Harbour Bridge and excellent food, so we all enjoyed a wonderful get-together as well as a delightful lunch.