Vale Anne Godfrey Smith, OAM, (1921-2011) Mentor, colleague and friend.

Anne was born Anne McIntyre in Launceston on 30th November 1921. She studied biochemistry at Sydney University 1939-41 and after graduating worked as a Pathologist at the Royal North Shore Hospital. However, the theatre and her love of literature soon took her in another direction and in 1953 she was appointed Manager-Producer at Canberra Repertory Society, a full-time salaried position for four years, which began her long association with Canberra.

She began writing poetry around this time and felt very lucky to have the poet, Professor Alec Hope as a teacher and mentor. After completing a BA, majoring in English, at ANU, in the 1960s, she commenced an MA degree, conferred in 1973, at Flinders University, on playwright and author, Samuel Beckett. Anne taught English Literature at the University of NSW from 1968 to 1974, where as my tutor she also became a long-standing friend.

Anne died, aged 89, in Canberra on 15 June 2011. Most young youth performing arts practitioners will not have known her, however, her passing was mourned by the founders of AYPAA (the Australian Youth Performing Arts Association) which began in 1974 as the precursor to today’s YPAA (not many younger practitioners will know that, either!).

Along with Joan Pope, Michael FitzGerald, Derek Nicholson, Graham Scott and others, I was one of the enthusiasts who saw the need for youth performing arts’ practitio…