TRIBUTES FLOW AVID WRITER
Reflecting on life of star letter writer Joan Dunlop
AT the end of her last letter to the editor, Joan Dunlop wrote “life is what you make it”.
Over her 40 years in Toowoomba, Joan’s passion for writing made her a regular and well-known contributor to The Chronicle’s letter section.
Joan passed away at her home last Thursday after a long-fought battle with illness. Her son Adrian Adams has remembered her as a pragmatic woman with a love of words.
“She always had a passion for English. I remember she stayed at home until I was five years old, so she could teach me how to read and write,” Mr Adams said.
“She wrote her first letter to the editor while she was studying for her degree.”
Joan’s first letter to The Chronicle was in 1974, shortly after she moved to Toowoomba from Nottingham. In it she thanked a good Samaritan for their help at a car accident.
From there, Joan touched on many subjects in her weekly letters, including cats, her move to the Garden City and current affairs. Her comments elicited many responses.
Mr Adams said she was surprised as her popularity grew she saw the letters as a form of expression.
“She liked to share her opinion and to write, she didn’t really think about celebrity or recognition,” he said.
“She was always surrounded
‘‘ “SHE LIKED TO SHARE HER OPINION AND TO WRITE, SHE DIDN’T REALLY THINK ABOUT CELEBRITY OR RECOGNITION.
ADRIAN ADAMS
by books. She used to get 15 books out from the library at a time, and when I came over she would be reading or doing crosswords.”
Joan wrote her last letter to The Chronicle in 2016, a few weeks before a car accident left her bed bound.
In it she praised Toowoomba, writing that the Garden City was the best place on earth to live.
Mr Adams said his mother kept her good humour until the end, her last act made with others in mind.
“She didn’t want a funeral or a service, she was more of a spiritual person,” Mr Adams said.
“She had said ‘if you want to show someone you love them do it while they’re alive’.
“She decided to donate her body to the medical science program at the University of Queensland - she wanted to be of help after she had passed.”
Joan leaves behind two children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
“She was very loving and generous, and a great grandmother. She will be sorely missed.”