Many of you will have heard Julie Copeland on Radio National in years gone by. She was one of the brilliant intellectuals of the station presenting programs such as The Coming Out Show, The Europeans and various arts programs. She'd interviewed artists and writers, Gorbachev and Gaddafi. A horse lover. A swimmer. A beauty. A traveller. A reader. A painter. And sadly, we lost her. She died earlier this year and a memorial was held looking out over Port Phillip Bay on 26 March.
I was honoured to be asked to give a brief speech (amongst many others) and here's what I said:
"I first met Julie when I joined the ABC in 1989 as Station Manager of
Radio National. I’d come from the world of community radio and initially most
broadcasters didn’t see the point of my role or value that particular
background but Julie always offered a kindly welcome. And when I became Federal
Editor based in Melbourne, that warm relationship grew.
Julie was such an engaging
person. Kind and thoughtful. A talker but someone who was open to the voices of
others. Someone with a genuine curiosity about the world – one of the reasons
she was such a great interviewer. She contributed so much to our national
conversation through programs such as The Coming Out Show and The
Europeans.
I’d spent a lot of my time in
community radio crafting new programs on the performing arts and women in music
and so I joined forces with the formidable Chris Westwood to convince our mutual
boss Roger Grant to create more arts programming for the station and Julie was
one of the first to put her hand up for the new programs. Over time, she
presented shows such as Arts National, Art Talk and Sunday Morning Arts with
Julie Copeland. She loved talking to artists and facilitating their connection
with the wider community.
I’ve tried to find the right
words to describe her radio style. Does ‘scintillating’ capture it? You could
hear her vivacity. You could hear her warmth. Your could hear her enthusiasm.
You could hear her genuine curiosity.
And that’s what it was like
to be with Julie. She was interested in all aspects of the lives we live and
the worlds we live in. She was always reading. Always learning. Always having
important topics to converse about. Always talking.
I came to know her better
after the boundary of the manager/employee relationship was dissolved. We
stayed in touch after I left the ABC and went to Melbourne Theatre Company.
We’d go to the occasional film at Cinema Nova, sometimes with John, sometimes
just the two of us and usually with Julie in a flurry after a late tram trip.
Each film was followed by a meal, often at the University Café, where we’d
discuss books and politics as well as the film, and I’d usually end the night
trying to solve one of her endless IT challenges over a glass of Italian wine.
From our conversations I know
that since leaving the ABC, Julie and John were happiest in Italy and Greece.
They loved returning to their cottage in Port Melbourne for the Australian
summer but Julie always said that at heart she was a European. And it was in
that context that I had the best time with Julia and John, staying with them in
Umbria in 2013. They welcomed me into their fresco-filled home and we had
wonderful times rattled up and down hillsides visiting villages and churches,
restaurants and bars, dipping into spas and chocolate festivals. Julie even
attempted to teach me to paint. Which reminds me that the only quality of Julie
that caused me grief was her driving. Of course, she was intrepid but did I
ever feel safe? No. And I have to confess something else. Sometimes I was
intimidated by her extraordinary conversational range. But unlike her driving,
those moments were always life enriching.
I’m honoured to have worked
with Julie and to have know her as a friend. My heart goes out to John [Slavin, her partner since the 1960s] and
Cheryl [Barassi, her sister] and all who knew her because I know what a gap she leaves in our
collective lives."
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| Julie & Ann - Umbria, 2013 |
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| Julie & John in their Port Melbourne garden - October 2024 |
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