After a long, rich and well-travelled life, Barbara Maher now convenes Italian conversation classes at Altona’s University of the Third Age.
As told to Mario Pinti
I was born in Canberra, but we moved around Australia continually because of my father’s job as a meteorologist. It left me with a kind of wanderlust, and I can’t count the number of homes I’ve had in various parts of the world. I’m 82 now!
When my father was posted to RAAF Butterworth base in Malaya (Malaysia), we lived in Penang. I had my first job at the AirForce base as a secretary. Though I had no secretarial training, I did have good organisational and interpersonal skills. I also hosted a couple of radio programmes and continued my radio announcing as a side hustle when I was living in Rome and presented an English-language programme, Panorama Italiano, on RAI Television.
Between Penang and Italy, though, I won what in those days was called a beauty contest, in Perth. The prize was a cruise for two people to the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. I was 22. I contracted German measles while we were in port and was quarantined in the ship’s hospital for two weeks. That’s how I met the ship’s doctor, an illustrious doctor from Genova. Some months later I moved to Italy and lived with his family. It took a few years, but we eventually married.
My handsome husband was an inveterate playboy, 14 years older than me. We had a daughter, and when she was about two, and tired of being the betrayed wife, I found a job in Rome. I loved Rome and lived there 17 years, working as PA and Executive Secretary in large multinational companies. I was totally bilingual, a huge bonus! I lived in Italy for almost 30 years.
The Italian language was not the only thing I loved about Italy. I also travelled the length and breadth of this wonderful land; I know it well, from the Alps to Sicily. After returning to Australia in 1990, I set up a company called Italian Itineraries renting holiday villas and country houses. It was one of the first businesses of its kind. I ran it for 24 very successful years – successful because I personally inspected and selected the properties and my intimate knowledge of the country, the culture and its idiosyncrasies meant I was a very good salesgirl!
Perhaps my life in those days, the 60s and 70s, paralleled the opening of opportunities for women in a male-dominated society. I felt that women had less chances, and I accepted all the challenges that came my way. I was very lucky to have been blessed with parents who always encouraged me in whatever I wanted to do.
And the conversation class at Altona U3A? As a member of the Williamstown U3A some years ago, and since I spoke fluent Italian, it was suggested I should share my knowledge of the language and culture. The Italian conversation classes began in Williamstown and later moved to Altona for logistical reasons. The class has been running for about six years now. We are buoni amici!
