Page 12 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, November 14, 2012
www.MelbourneObserver.com.au
Alyson Mary Rolle. 1922-2012. ■ My mother Alyson loved reading my column. She would often ring me and say “I have something for your column”. It would be something that happened in her retirement home or some news on Buddy Franklin whom she loved. Alyson was a committed Hawthorn supporter. She loved ‘the Hawks’all her life. Loyal to them to the end, she thought in fact they had won this year’s premiership and who was I to correct her? I let her think they had indeed won.
● Alyson Mary Rolle in 1947
She knew her football and would often predict the winner of the Brownlow Medal saying knowingly – “he is a great footballer he deserves to win”. She told me once “Ben Cousins was the greatest footballer she had seen play the game since Haydn Bunton Jnr”. I tended to believe everything she told me from a very young age and continued to do so in later life. She would smile her smile and her blue eyes would twinkle and tell me such stories. She served in the Royal Australian Navy and was proud of her years in the service. And she was proud of her kids. She loved her kids. I was the eldest, then Peter my brother and my sisters Debi and Jacky. One of the last things she said to me on the phone was “I am going to miss my kids”. My mother passed away on October 31 at 3.15am with my sister Debi at her side. We didn’t make it time for that final goodbye. However we were blessed to have many goodbyes as Alyson had been ill for so longm each time I left her I felt I was saying goodbye, I know it was the same for my sisters and brother. I miss her. I will miss every day for the rest of my life. The impact she had on my life is enormous. I am the woman I am today because of her. She taught me about movies, men, books, life, the arts, she loved the theatre, she loved music, she played all sorts of music from Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra to Bob Dylan. She took me to the Palais Theatre when I was young and I saw Rudolf Nureyev leap from one side of the stage to the other, I have never forgotten it. She was bright, smart, self-taught and knew everything about everything. She was glam-
orous, incorrigible, flirtatious and fabulous. She was politically aware like no one else I know except for Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert. She would have loved to have known that Obama got back in. She was worried about that. She worried about a lot of things, however despite that she remained savvy, street smart with an intuition that was never wrong - ever. She had an opinion on everything and she knew what she was talking about. She was fiery and yet quiet with a brain that never stopped ticking over. She loved a cold beer and playing backyard cricket with her kids and our Dad. We all had many happy times with her. She loved laughing and she laughed a lot. She loved having people around her and having a good time. Born in Armadale, Melbourne, 1922, Alyson grew up in Kew with her sister Dorothy and her brothers Ken and Lionel. She went to Hawthorn West school. She adored her mother Mabel who died when Mum was 14. Mum often said she never got over losing her mother. She spoke about Mabel a lot and we as children never got to meet her, however there were photographs of her and lovely stories told my Mum. Alyson travelled the world with my father Peter and said that moving to Sydney from Melbourne with Dad broadened their lives, she said it was the best thing they ever did. Mum married Peter Rolle on June 14, 1947, at St Mary’s Church, Caulfield. They lived in Melbourne all their married life until they moved to Sydney in the early 70s. They lived in Mosman and then moved to Forster, on the coast of northern NSW. We had a lot of fun up there. Fishing, playing cricket and all that goes with a seaside town.
And now it’s my turn Mum, I don’t think I will ever get over losing my mother either. I am blessed to have great siblings and we will always look after each other. Since she has gone, I feel grown up, taller, stunned, sad and the world looks and feels different. I will miss our phone calls. I will miss her wisdom and her laugh. She will live on in me and I will speak to her every day. My column this week is dedicated to my mother Alyson Mary Rolle.
● My mother Alyson with my brother Peter
Vale Paul Barber
Di
I love my job!
■ I want to talk about a wonderful gentle man – Paul Barber. Paul was a delight. I had the privilege of working with him at Channel 7 when he produced Tonight Live With Steve Vizard. We shared many laughs together. He loved his work. He was a great journalist and a terrific radio man. He spoke his mind and he lived his truth. He loved the Collingwood Football Club. He loved his friends and he loved a laugh There were many happy times ● Paul Barber shared with him and Darren James and family, Derryn Hinch and the Finneys. Paul passed away on Friday evening (Nov. 9). Paul, you will be missed. I loved our lunches at Box Hill, my train rides to get there and you being at the station waiting for us. And you laughing as we arrived. You taught me many lessons. You were always interested in what I was up to. Bali will never be the same again. Vale Paul Barber.
Rolle Susan Boyle heads for Melbourne
■ I have long had a celebrity crush on Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert. I also include Leigh Sales from 7.30 on the ABC in that group. So I was really amused when I received a survey from Lonergan Research ● Jon Stewart reporting that Barry Humphries, Rebel Wilson, Magda Szubanski and Bert Newton are among our top celebrity crushes! According to Lonergan Research, Australians value humour and heart above supermodel looks. Almost 85 per cent of Aussies rate sense of humour and intelligence as more important than a perfect appearance, according to the survey of more than 1000 people. Dave O’Neill would have to be my Aussie celebrity crush – I just love him and he is a great bloke to boot!
with leading Melbourne publicist DI ROLLE
■ In 1968 Andy Warhol said “everyone will be famous for 15 minutes”. How right he was. Look at all the people who have been famous for 15 minutes. I speak of Benjamin who won Big Brother last week. What a star he is. He has it all going for him and I do hope he is managed properly and doesn’t remain a 15-minute winner and that he doesn’t disappear. He needs good management. He could have his own TV show if he plays his cards right. Benjamin is a very impressive young man. Who knows? He might be famous for longer than 15 minutes and end up having a musical produced for him! . Someone who is having a musical produced for them is Susan Boyle. Her fame has gone from 15 minutes to a world-wide phenomenon – and it had to come ... a musical written called The Susan Boyle Musical, I Dreamed A Dream. Direct from the UK, the new musical based
● Elaine C Smith as Susan Boyle
on the life of the global singing sensation will run next year in Melbourne at Her Majesty’s Theatre from May 31. Tickets go on sale on Monday, November 26 . I thought what a great idea for a Christmas present for someone close. I would love a musical based on my life. Maybe it will happen one day! Susan Boyle said this week: “I am thrilled that Australian audiences will have the opportunity to see the incredibly talented Elaine C. Smith in Ed Curtis’s amazing production of my official story. “This has been an incredible ride and I hope to have the opportunity to visit Australia again when the production opens in Melbourne in May, 2013.” The musical tells the story of Susan Boyle’s life, from her birth … and the hand which life dealt her, up to the present day. ● Turn To Page 57