Biography
Richardson was born in Singleton in the Hunter Region, New South Wales, on 21 December 1933. In 1967 she moved to the small mining village of Mount Kembla in the Illawarra District, where she raised her children, working as a primary school teacher. In 1985 she commenced studying English Literature at the University of Wollongong, where she was to gain a Bachelor of Arts Degree.
Richardson describes her association with Mount Kembla: "I came to Mount Kembla by accident, we got lost on the mountain. It was real Bunyip country. We bought a large dilapidated weather board general store and dance hall. There was also a house and in a drawer of an old desk was a copy of the Royal Commission into the Mine Disaster of 1902. I opened the dusty cover. It pulled me into the story, and this was my departure point.... As I read and talked and walked and listened I began to realize what a privilege it was to live in a close-knit mining community where we keep alive those things we must never forget".
Read more about this topic: Wendy Richardson
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