Discovering the women of Caboolture with Julie Kaeser and Julie Thomson
Julie Thomson and Julie Kaeser have co-written two books on the women who helped shaped the Caboolture community, sharing moving and memorable stories of medical women in the area in their book High, hot and a hell of a lot: celebrating Caboolture medical women, and the women who were intertwined with Caboolture’s history in Celebrating Caboolture women.
For Julie Kaeser the inspiration for these books came after a friend’s mother’s funeral. She was a real stalwart of Caboolture community. Julie thought it was a pity you only heard of their life story when they died. Julie decided to honour her life and many others like her, and found it a rewarding journey to hear their stories.
Julie Thomson’s love of the story led her to jump enthusiastically at friend Julie Kaeser's suggestion a decade ago that she join her in writing the history of local Caboolture women of all stripes.
These were women who made their mark, set the pace of life, nourished the community, lived good and solid lives raising families, caring for relatives, friends and neighbours, tending to the needy, connecting and nurturing, amusing, guiding and teaching by example, what makes a town or district hum.
They were not women who had ever made the front page or headline item on the tv or radio news, but all the more important their story be told, the two Julies decided.
As subjects rolled in, with suggestions from near and far, Julie and Julie saw a potential branch topic they could also explore. Their book on Medical Women came about in the same way.
Julie Thomson and Julie Kaeser discuss the process of writing these books and share the stories of some of the fascinating women they discovered.
About Julie Thomson
Julie Thomson started her journalism career in metropolitan newspapers in the early 1970s, in what are now historic days of typewriters and stories hammered out on paper in triplicate carbon paper copies.
Decades of working in print and broadcast media, in Australia and in the UK, covering stories from Britain and Europe, producing ABC radio programmes, working in ABCTV publicity for programmes such as Australian Story and Gardening Australia, saw her move from paper to screen, to tablet, phone, online and podcast formats.
Julie Thomson has moved on from story gathering these days, having been for the past seven years Venue Manager at the Bribie Island Community Arts Centre . But her love and inquiry of people remains and the 'sticky beak'' trait she developed in her media career has stood her in great stead, managing, discovering and nurturing all manner of creatives in art mediums that range from painting, printmaking, pottery, glass and textile work to books, poetry, and singing.
About Julie Kaeser
Julie Kaeser was more into sport at school and didn’t get into reading on her own volition before the age of 30. While not having Julie Thomson’s writing background, Julie is very interested in people and their stories.
Volunteering at Meals on Wheels for several years heightened her awareness to lives past. She believes everyone has done something or contributed to our community and should be valued and recognised.