Credit: Iain McMillan
Cheers for the cherry pav
I wanted to say a big thank you to Helen Goh for her recipe for cherry pavlova with almond and yoghurt noyaux cream [December 2]. I made it (using amaretto) for friends, and it was universally acclaimed as being both very delicious and visually beautiful.
Iain McMillan
Address supplied
Summer Reading
And I thought I was the only person who wrote with a fountain pen these days [December 16]. Unlike Robert Gott, who claims to have 124 fountain pens, I have been using my solitary Parker 45 fountain pen continuously since 1983 to write my daily diary. I’m sure it will outlast me and be good for another 40 years, too.
Bruce Roberts
Mudgee, NSW
The commitment to (fountain) pen-manship that Robert Gott described is very special and very close to my heart, as my dad was a writer and immensely fond of his writing tools; I suspect he valued them almost more than his kids! He authored many a great novel with his Parkers and Montblancs. Reading Gott’s article led to a bit of nostalgic time travel back to my home in India and, needless to say, the coffee became laced with a couple of tears.
Mrinal Bhave
Gowanbrae, Vic
Tennis magazine
I am sure many tennis fans appreciate Tennis, the special Good Weekend edition produced as preparation for watching the Australian Open [January 13]. Many thanks especially to Rob Harris for featuring Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina, whose heartfelt pledge is to play her best-ever tennis because “we must speak and act until Ukraine wins the war”. Svitolina must be made of pure resilience as she is also coping with her baby daughter, her scattered, beloved family and the international politics of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Yes, that is the Ukrainian spirit.
Barbara Fraser
Burwood, VIC
Reading the tennis quiz questions, there was a name familiar with my childhood days growing up in Gosford, NSW. Mum and Dad were friends of Ron and Gwen Edmondson and Ron was a tennis coach. Each Saturday morning I would head to the courts to have Ron teach me to play. They had a son some years my younger, and he, too, benefited from his father’s skills. Mark went on to compete in national and international games. To this day, he is the last Australian to win the men’s singles title at the Australian Open, in 1976. As for yours truly, a tennis career passed me by, and I haven’t seen Mark since he was in primary school.
Allan Gibson
Cherrybrook, NSW
The tennis edition was wonderful. I loved the story of Greg (Crumpy) Crump and his dedication to getting people, including children, into wheelchair tennis. As he says, he gets joy in making a difference to peoples’ lives. The story of Alex de Minaur “slaying the giant” Novak Djokovic was great, too.
Susan Munday
Bentleigh East, Vic
Want to chat? We’d love to hear from you. Send your letters to goodweekend@goodweekend.com.au. Or send us a picture or Instagram one of Good Weekend in your life, using the hashtag #goodweekendmag.
All letters are edited for reasons of clarity, syntax and space.
To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.