Philobiblon: Jill Tweedie

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Jill Tweedie

Lovely biography in my inbox this morning from DNB on Jill Tweedie, written in a beautifully dry style: " ... one of her uncles, by then resident in Vancouver, to spend time with his family in Canada. She stayed there for six months, fell unsuitably in love again-this time with a cousin-and was dispatched home; however, she cashed in her air ticket and stopped off in Montreal instead. There she got work, initially as a reindeer in a Christmas display ...."

I knew her Letters from a Fainthearted Feminist, my battered copy of which I have just dug out. I realise from the pencil pound sign inside I must have acquired when I first came to Europe in 1990. (So it has since been to Australia, Thailand and back to England.)

I hadn't known how dramatic her life had been, however, or that there was a sequel, More From Martha; off to abebooks ....

But I'm left pondering how DNB are going to keep up the current email rate. They're sending male and female biogs on alternating days, but since I heard somewhere it is still only about 15% female, aren't they going to run out?

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I suppose since they have 50,000 biogs (I think that's what it said? I've logged out now - off-campus access via Athens, yippee), even 15% is (pause to count on fingers) 7500 women and at one every other day that's (urggh, counting, counting) 40+ years. I think.

(You know people blame calculators for kids not being able to do mental arithmetic any more? Well we didn't have them till I was approaching my teens and my mental arithmetic is rubbish anyway. Especially long division.)

Sharon

10/14/2004 10:08:00 am  
Blogger Natalie Bennett said...

Well yes, but if it is another century 'til the next one, they're going to run out! (I haven't heard if there's a plan for continual updating; anyone know?)

10/14/2004 02:43:00 pm  

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