‘Ready to take on the world’: former editor Judith Whelan remembered

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When Judith Whelan entered a room, you knew she had arrived.

Her aged person Anne Davies remembered that connected the archetypal time of their cadetship successful 1985, Whelan appeared nether a unreality of acheronian curls and wearing a Laura Ashley formal arsenic she marked her modulation from past past teacher to journalist. Her caller friend, Warwick Tiernan, remembered that connected the archetypal time of her caller occupation astatine the ABC astir 35 years aboriginal she wore leopard people stilletos and was “a enactment of caller air”.

Judith Whelan during day quality league astatine the Fairfax Media bureau successful Pyrmont.

But her daughter, Sophia Henning, knew Whelan was coming adjacent earlier she had arrived, by her footfall connected the stairs. It was louder than anyone other successful the household due to the fact that she had a immense postulation of stilletos and clutches.

“You could astir perceive Nancy Sinatra playing successful the background,” Henning said astatine Whelan’s ceremonial connected Friday, arsenic laughter ricocheted the Great Hall astatine the University of Sydney.

“It felt to maine similar the subtext was, ‘Here I am, acceptable to instrumentality connected the world’. It was besides the subtext for truthful overmuch she said and did each day.”

Whelan, a erstwhile exertion of the Sydney Morning Herald and Good Weekend mag and editorial manager of the ABC, died connected June 26, aged 63, aft a agelong conflict with cancer.

Her beingness could divided into respective acts: the archetypal arsenic the youngest of 5 siblings increasing up successful Hurstville, watching her brothers and sisters lick the world’s problems portion shelling peas astatine the household array and talked astir existent affairs. When problems arose, the siblings would motorboat into lively statement until their upholsterer begetter would curtail proceedings with the cry, “Just get connected with it”.

She learned past to follow the values instilled by her parents – respect different people, perceive to others earlier you respond and enactment hard – which served her done her world career, arsenic a pupil debater and aboriginal astatine the precise apical of her assemblage successful journalism.

She became the archetypal pistillate president of the University of Sydney pupil national successful a decisive triumph that her aged sparring spouse and present NSW Chief Justice Andrew Bell recalled occurred portion the little disciplined Student Representative Council was incapable to state a effect owed to “voting irregularities”.

“The national was ever overmuch much civilised and superior to the SRC,” Bell said. “That was nary uncertainty wherefore Judith preferred it.”

A caller enactment began erstwhile Whelan began enactment astatine the Herald, wherever Bell said that “her eyes – those sparkling agleam eyes – were opened”. She was invited to A-list parties which she enthusiastically attended, took with gusto to tasks specified arsenic reviewing restaurants for the fledgling Good Food Guide and proved adept astatine telling entertaining stories based connected meticulous research.

It was present that she met her husband, Chris Henning, with whom she had 2 children, Sophia and Patrick, and was capable to indulge her immense scope of interests, including politics, history, literature, popular music, science, practice buildings, rugby league and cooking. She besides mentored others to travel successful her footsteps.

Two of them – existent exertion Bevan Shields and his predecessor Lisa Davies – were sitting among the beforehand rows arsenic tributes were work out. They were among dozens of journalists and erstwhile journalists who had worked with Whelan, including erstwhile Herald editors Peter Fray, Mark Scott and Darren Goodsir and erstwhile Fairfax Media main enforcement Greg Hywood. They recognised the statement of her that was provided by Davies: a cleanable premix of optimism and scepticism.

“But she wasn’t perfect,” Davies said. “Judith could get exasperated, particularly arsenic she tried to tally a shrinking newsroom. There was nary shouting. The lone give-away was the grin done gritted teeth and the tiny heap of breached pencils connected her desk. ‘I’m fine,’ she’d say.”

She took the aforesaid positivity to the ABC, which became the last enactment successful her career. She oversaw an enlargement of vigor into podcasting and had a imaginativeness to marque assemblage the bosom of everything that was done astatine the nationalist broadcaster.

Many radical wondered however she recovered the energy. After a agelong time astatine the office, she came location to whip up pan-Mediterranean meals retired of mismatched vegetables recovered successful the fridge. She whirled betwixt editing a nationalist paper to moving the country astatine societal events and entertaining her friends astatine home. And adjacent arsenic the crab tightened astir her, her vigor did not flag.

Her hubby wondered wherever she got it from. She was not an exercising benignant of person, Henning said. She had been a camper earlier deciding it was conscionable housework successful the rainfall without the conveniences of home, helium said. She had tried cycling and helium had ne'er seen her truthful angry.

“I deliberation wherever she got her vigor from was people, rather frankly,” Henning said. “All of america successful this country were the root of her energy, and she utilized it to propulsion crab to 1 side.”

It was not to last. Whelan was inactive cooking meals for those she loved until the past weeks of her life.

“Cancer is specified a cruel disease,” Henning said. “It takes distant your strength, it takes distant your quality ... and past it kills you. After each that brilliance and laughter and joy, this is each that’s left.”

When Judith Whelan near a room, you knew she had gone.