Iris brings characters to life in fascinating history

AS they get older, a lot of people think of writing about their lives but sadly most never get around to it.

LABOUR OF LOVE: Ipswich author Iris Barry has written four books exploring her family’s history. Picture: Rob Williams

POET Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lamented:

Something remains for us to do and dare,

Even the oldest trees some fruit may bear,

Age is a time of life - no less than youth itself.

The sentiment espoused by Longfellow in that verse is how Jean Iris Barry - or Iris to her family and friends - views life.

As they get older, a lot of people think of writing about their lives but sadly most never get around to it.

Some may put pen to paper and write their memoirs only to leave the manuscript in a file for their relatives to find after they have left this life. Happily, this is not the case for Iris.

The youngest of 11 children, Iris was born in the old coal town of Mt Mulligan in far North Queensland and went on to become the head teacher of a small school on the Atherton Tableland.

She has written about her life and events that impacted on her life in four published books.

With support and encouragement from the University of the Third Age, her first publication Women of Gold is primarily a tribute to her mother using material from the memories recounted down through the years.

It's a fascinating account of the hardships pioneer women endured with courage and stamina in the 1880s during the rip-roaring days of the gold rush to the Palmer - The River of Gold.

Paying tribute to her mother Iris writes:

"I dips me lid to the current generation of young women whose strength and tenacity is breaking down the glass ceiling. But dearer to my aged heart are the old familiar faces known so well to George Essex Evans in his Women of the West."

It is the comments in Evans' book that depicts so well how Iris views the life of her mother.

Her second publication Look Closer See Me describes family life in the 1930s during the Great Depression and on into the 1940s.

The third book, Calling 8XD Diamantina, comes from her experiences as the housekeeper/cook on the remote Diamantina Lakes Cattle Station, where she pays tribute to all the men and women who work and live on remote cattle stations that can be found throughout Australia.

Iris has scattered poetry by varying writers throughout her publications.

Her final publication fills in the gaps between the second and third books and, according to Iris, took more than two years to "relive the sunshine and the shadows".

Iris is a great storyteller and her books are a delight to read as the characters jump from the pages, providing the reader with the feeling of being there at the particular time.

You can feel, smell and imagine you are part of her story.