Michèle Jedlicka, the former editor of the Inverell Times, is a tough act to follow. Her passion for social issues and awareness of the injustices around the world was a great asset to the newspaper and the community.
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A restless soul, she is now the Corporate and Community Services Officer of BEST Employment - but she is still with the paper as a friend, source of inspiration and, of course, avid reader.
As her successor in the role of editor of the Inverell Times, my first “meeting” with Michèle came when I was still in Greece and chanced upon her dormant website – www.itsgoingok.com. That’s when I discovered that Michèle and I shared the fact that we were both passionate about the news but also out-of-towners wanting to build a life for ourselves in charming Inverell.
We decided to turn the tables on Michèle and interview the interviewer in the first of our series of profiles casting the spotlight on out-of-towners.
In Michèle’s own words:
I was born in... Berwyn, Illinois in the US, and mostly spent my first six years in an apartment in Evanston, IL, off the north side of Chicago, then moved to Oak Park, Illinois – a village on the west side of Chicago in 1976, to the same house where my parents still live today.
I came to Australia because... I moved to Australia in 2003 and lived in West Gippsland, Victoria for eight years. My husband and I made a move up in 2011 and settled in the area because he knew it from his uni days at UNE years ago, and we liked the landscape and the area. We actually live about 60kms west of town, but I have always worked in Inverell.
What I miss most from home is... my family and friends. Most of them live in the Chicago area, though my two closest friends live on either coast – one in Oakland, CA and one in Washington DC. I also miss Chicago dearly. It is always home to me.
What I love most about Inverell is... the people. They are kind and genuine. You can stop just about anybody on any street and ask a question, and they are happy to help. And when things go awry for a family or there is an emergency, everybody galvanizes to help out. That’s a wonderful thing.
What can the rest of the world learn from the people of Inverell? No matter where you live, we have to keep talking to each other, and listening. We all have our problems and our virtues, no matter the country, but if we stop communicating, then there is no hope of making the world a better place.
The biggest surprise about living here is... I’m struggling to answer this. I have lived in many places – some big cities, some very small hamlets and places in between. I don’t know that Inverell holds many surprises, but I would say it offers few disappointments.
When friends come to visit, I take them to... Unfortunately, it’s hard to convince friends to make the very long trip over, though I do have my oldest friend, of 41 years, coming in August. She’s never been to Australia, so it’s exciting, and when we get to Inverell, we’ll take time walking the streets of the CBD and sitting in Campbell Park and I’d be very happy to introduce her to people I know.
In my free time, I... write, take photographs and walk.
Something most people don't know about me is ... Hard to answer. There is a lot about me people don’t know because I tend to be the person asking questions and I am actually quite private about my personal life. People might not know I was a full-time horse trainer and clinician for many years. I still have horses, too many. But these days, while my husband travels the world doing horse clinics, I am happy to trim their feet, feed them and enjoy them just living their lives in our paddocks. I might ride again, but for the moment, I am happy to stay on the ground.
Inverell is a true blue Aussie town with a cosmopolitan flair. If you know of an out-of-towner with a story to share, please send your proposal to mary.sinanidis@fairfaxmedia.com.au
