11 minute read
The Reading Corner
the reading corner BY JESSICA ANSCOMBE
APRIL IN PARIS, 1921 Author Tessa Lunney
The white living room where I’m stretched out reading, on the Australian Central Coast in 2022 is a world away from the studio apartment where the glamourous Kiki Button resides. But in April in Paris, 1921, author Tessa Lunney’s rich and generous description transports me immediately. As I sit, sipping a champagne – the refreshment this book almost demands – my own surrounds fall away and I’m in Paris, peering around Kiki’s small, bohemian loft with its lone “sagging bed”, while Kiki sits in the geranium–filled windowsill, smoking a cigarette, looking out over Paris, and contemplating her assignments as Gossip Columnist, Detective and Spy.
Kiki Button has been living back in Australia for the past two years, after returning from Europe, where she was a wartime nurse. The year is 1921, in the aftermath of World War 1, and Kiki escapes her hometown in Australia, and the obligation to marry, and hurries back to Paris. On her return to Paris, she has secured what seems to be the perfect job. A reporter for a gossip column. Kiki can spend her evenings in Montparnasse, a bustling part of Paris brimming with cafes, bars, artists, writers and dreamers – the partying a salve for war wounds. Here she can drink and smoke and dance and talk about art and music – while collecting entertaining fodder for her column.
Kiki’s party lifestyle doesn’t remain carefree for long. Soon she is contacted by a sly acquaintance. Although the war is over, it seems he isn’t finished with Kiki yet. When he reveals he has something over her, Kiki has no choice but to follow his instructions and resume her role as spy. Throw in a special job for Pablo Picasso and the reader is taken on a wild ride, from one late–night rendezvous to another where Kiki is being reporter, detective and spy – all at once – with drink in hand and dancing shoes on.
Lunney writes with such passion that I could smell the baguettes and flowers and smoke and hear the paperboy, clinking glasses and bell tolls across the city. “All the smells that wafted in through the window, of fresh bread, old wine, unwashed beggar, burnt sugar, salt, fat. The view over the city stretched on and on, over chimney pots and attics, over the Luxembourg Gardens and the Sorbonne to my right, to my left over streetlamps and metal roofs to the Eiffel Tower.” The spectrum of sights and smells, good and bad, work to form a beautifully vivid picture.
The characters are layered and thoughtful. Kiki Button is both playful and serious and her put–together glamour and style wrestles with a whisper of dishevel lying just under the surface. She is strong and yearns for independence but also wants connection, something she struggles with when we are introduced to her long–time friend and ‘will they/won’t they’ love interest Tom.
If you love historical fiction, if you love detective mysteries and if you fancy a trip to Paris in the 1920s April in Paris, 1921 and the second Kiki Button mystery, Autumn Leaves, 1922 are for you.
Jessica Anscombe is a librarian and writer living on the Central Coast. She has a passion for literature and writes fiction and non–fiction. Jessica was the winner of the Wyong Writers’ 2021 Short Story Competition and her winning story is to be published in an upcoming anthology. She has also been longlisted for the Furious Fiction prize and you can read her short stories here www.jessicaanscombe.com/category/fiction/short–stories/ and follow her on instagram at www.instagram.com/jessicaanscombe/
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107.7 Triple M celebrates its golden anniversary as the Central Coast’s first radio station for 50 years.
At the end of 2021, the Central Coast’s 107.7 Triple M celebrated its golden anniversary as the Coast’s oldest local radio station.
On Friday, 19 November 1971, the Coast saw the birth of its very own radio station, 801 AM 2GO. Broadcasting live for the first time right from the lush Gosford Hills in the heart of the coast, on Henry Parry Drive, this still remains the location for the Coast’s first local frequency, on the air from Lake Macquarie to the Hawkesbury.
‘Everything is beautiful’ by Ray Stevens was the first song Coasties heard on their local radio station, led by its first ever on air announcement by then General Manager, Keith Graham.
Since then, 107.7 Triple M has been home to some of Australia’s most well–known radio personalities including Doug Mulray, John Kerr, comedian Akmal Saleh, Mike Duncan, Rick Julien, Dwayne Jeffries, Bob Peters, Cam Humphreys, Sarah King, Paddy Gerrard, Rob Palmer and many more!
During the 70s, the station was always present across the Coast, from cutting the ribbon at Old Sydney Town theme park in 1975, to seeing Midnight Oil perform at the Doylo and ACDC rock the stage at the Wyong Memorial Hall before the band became a global phenomenon.
In the 80s, the Damien Gerard Recording Studios relocated from Sydney to Gosford where iconic bands such as Hoodoo Gurus, Grinspoon and Mental as Anything recorded some of their most famous tracks. Becoming more of a recording hub for some of Australia’s best homegrown acts, the 2000s saw INXS’s Gary Beers build a studio in Somersby called the Grove, which saw bands like Birds of Tokyo, Eskimo Joe and Silverchair record their music, and who are still played on Triple M’s airwaves today.
The original 801 AM frequency switched to 107.7 FM back in 1992, and as it’s known today, the Coast’s own 107.7 Triple M.
Group Content Director, James Speed, said: “It’s an honour to be a part of this historic celebration for the Coast. Being the Coast’s station for over 50 years is a long time, and 107.7’s presence has played such an important part in Coastie history.
“As the first ever radio station to broadcast here, we’ve lived through and experienced every major event over the past five decades. We’re still broadcasting from the original studios on Henry Parry Drive and continue to offer a product and content that matters to the Coast, those that have been born and bred here just like us.”
The Coast’s 50th birthday celebrations saw Diesel and Mark Gable of Choirboys return to the historic studios this morning for live on air performances.
turns 50107.7 Triple M
1970s 1980s 1990s
1971 the start of the station, it became the Central Coast’s first local radio station In 1973 one of the first to drive over the brand new Hawkesbury River Bridge on the F3 Helped cut the ribbon at Old Sydney
Town theme park in 1975 Said goodbye to an old local in 1977 when the Prince Edward Theatre at the
Entrance Closed Midnight Oil rocked the stage at the
Doylo – in the 70S ACDC, before they became a global phenomenon, played an iconic gig at the
Wyong Memorial Hall in 1975
2000s
The Olympics were held in Sydney in the year 2000, which means several
Coastie locations become training grounds, including the Terrigal
Basketball Stadium which became a training hub for many athletes That same year the Central Coast got a stadium In 2003 we were robbed of our childhood when Old Sydney Town
Theme Park closed its doors for the last time ever In 2008 we got our celebration on when the Mariners became A League
Premiers The Central Coast started to become the recording hub to more and more amazing Aussie acts, in the year 2000
INXS’s Gary Beers built a recording studio in Somersby called The Grove, it’s still there, and still producing some amazing albums. The Grove saw bands like Birds of
Tokyo, Eskimo Joe and Silverchair all travel to the Coast to record ‘Black Fingernails Red Wine’ song recorded on Central Coast The 80’s started with a huge petrol strike on the coast which saw locals running on empty finally got some petrol In 1981 Coasties all went to the newly opened Entrance Cinema to watch
Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark! In 1982 things got electric, The Gosford to Newcastle train line was electrified In 1984 the Brick Co West Gosford and the Gosford Abattoir closed down, seeing too many Coastie jobs lost Mid 80’s the Damien Gerrard
Recording Studios relocated from
Sydney to Gosford, bands like Mental
As Anything, Hoodoo Gurus and
Grinspoon had work made here which
Triple M plays to this day The biggest festival the coast has ever seen, Narara Music Festival in 83 and 84 saw some of the world’s biggest acts right in our own backyard. INXS, The Pretenders, Def Leppard, The
Divinyls, Men At Work, Cold Chisel,
The Church, Australian Crawl, Simple
Minds, Talking Heads, Eurythmics,
Mental As Anything, The Hoodoo
Gurus and so many more played live in Somersby, one of the most iconic performances at Narara was the
Angels, at the time one of Australia’s biggest bands. Their famous set at
Narara saw a blood red moon rise behind the stage, it was actually made into a DVD special and marked as one of the most iconic Aussie gigs of all time We went from AM to FM! Said goodbye to 801 AM and switched over to 107.7 FM In 1991 a local Coastie legend David
Fairleigh made his state of origin debut In 1995 a bridge linking Gosford and
West Gosford was named in honour
Brian McGowan 1995 that same year Westfield
Tuggerah opened its doors In 1996 Ploddy the dinosaur went for a walk, she and the Reptile Park relocated from Wyoming to Somersby and the whole town turned up to do the walk up the hill with them It was also the decade where born and bred Coastie Mark Skaife won his first ever V8 Championship We had some pretty cool acts rock the coast in the 90’s as well including,
Crowded House playing at the Central
Coast Leagues Club and Diesel played at every single venue we have 1996 Powderfinger gave us a gig to remember at the Long Jetty Pub!
2005–Now
We said goodbye to 2GO and hello, to Triple M In 2011 we all lined the shores of
North Avoca Beach to watch the
HMAS Adelaide get sunk to create an artificial reef In 2012 the Mariners became A League
Premiers for the second time, then backed it up the next year by becoming
A League Champions In 2015 the Coast population was over 320,000 people, making it the third largest urban area in New South Wales 2018 we brought Lionel Ritchie to the
Central Coast, 2GO as we were at the time, presented Lionel Live at Central
Coast Stadium Towards the end of the decade two crazy blokes were given the keys to
Triple M Breakfast and the Paddy &
Rob Palmer show was born
