LIFELONG FRIENDS
ALUMNAE MERITAE
Women of their word On Tuesday 13 April, the whole School, members of the Old Girls’ League and invited guests gathered in the Dawn Jones Sports Centre to celebrate the achievements of two outstanding Dio Old Girls: Jenny Wheeler (PY 1963) and Nicola Legat (PY 1973).
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fter last year’s Alumna Merita Assembly was cancelled due to COVID-19, it was a real relief to be able to acknowledge Jenny and Nicola’s successes in the sphere of publishing and journalism. We extend our warmest congratulations to them both and thank them for their contributions to their fields and their excellent example of service to every member of the Diocesan Community.
Jenny Wheeler – a love of writing Jenny Wheeler’s career as a writer began five decades ago when she joined the New Zealand Herald as a news reporter in 1971. She subsequently worked at the Auckland Star and then at the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Jenny went on to take a leading role in launching two of New Zealand’s most iconic publications: the Sunday Star newspaper (now the Sunday Star Times) in 1987, of which she was editor for six and a half years, and NZ House & Garden magazine in 1993. Her last position before leaving journalism to pursue other interests was as the first female editor of the New Zealand Listener from 1994 to 1997.
Jenny recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Magazine Publishers’ Association for services to magazines. She has also returned to her first love, publishing the historical mystery series Of Gold & Blood, which is set in 19th Century Gilded Age California. The ninth book in the series is currently in production. For the last three years, Jenny has recorded a weekly podcast called
The Joys of Binge Reading, featuring author interviews with nearly 150 international writers who are all passionate about popular fiction. It’s now available on Audible. At the Alumnae Meritae Assembly, Jenny spoke about disruptions to the publishing industry, including artificial intelligence writing fiction and how the revenue from audio books is soon set to surpass that of print books. DIO TODAY
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