By Greg Harbort
SOME readers might remember Uncle John’s Children’s Page ran in The Catholic Leader from 1955 to 1980.
The page was filled with puzzles, pen pals, jokes and riddles and illuminating facts and stories for children and adults alike.
What most people would not know is Uncle John was the pseudonym of female writer, Laurie Theresa Harbort, during a time when women writers were rare.
Laurie had dreams to become a teacher, but pragmatism won out, and she became a clerk-typist with the Queensland Transport Department in 1953.
Her other dream of being a writer continued, however.
She scrimped and saved and on February 16, 1956, paid the princely sum of £17 10s (one month’s wages) for a “portable” Royal typewriter.
It was a major commitment for the young woman, not long out of school and working as a junior in a typing pool.
It was also at this time that she became an enthusiastic member of the National Catholic Girl’s Movement.
With a cause in her heart, notepad, and pencil in one hand, Box Browning camera and typewriter juggled in the other, Laurie launched herself into part time, independent journalism.
She had already started writing the Uncle John’s Children’s Page for The Catholic Leader, as well as submitting other articles on topics relevant to young women at the time.
She soon built a modest following, having articles published in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales.
By 1958, she was receiving offers to become a full-time journalist.
She politely declined, having married Tony Harbort, and believing – like many women of the time – that married women should not work full time.
She did however continue to embrace the Uncle John’s Children’s Page with gusto.
In 1960, The Catholic Leader’s managing editor Brian Doyle, who ran the publication from 1959 to 1981, called in part-time contributors to meet with him.
He had assumed Laurie was short for Laurence and that “Uncle John” was a man.
Laurie would recount in later years his momentary disarray on discovering “Uncle John” was a woman, with a babe in arms.
She had been concerned that being a new mother might mean she needed to give up her beloved children’s page.
Brian assured her that the opposite was true – “Uncle John” was gaining popularity and he hoped she would continue contributing for “the foreseeable future”.
Laurie’s Uncle John’s Children’s Page was to continue for the next fifteen years.
In 1980, after 25 years being “Uncle John”, Laurie ceased writing for the newspaper.
In the years following, when offered The Catholic Leader after Mass, she would modestly (and perhaps smugly) respond, “Oh, I used to write for them, they still send me a free copy in the mail.”
The cessation of “Uncle John” in no way diminished her love of children.
She worked as a pre-school teachers’ aide at Drillham State School, followed by five years as a teachers’ aide at the Holy Cross School, Miles, and then a further five years as a part-time teachers’ aide at the Miles State High School.
By 1995 she had withdrawn from paid work, but started tutoring children in after school care. She was also committed to religious education, gaining a Diploma in Catechetics in 1992, and in 2006 receiving a certificate of gratitude from the Catholic Education Office for 15 years of service.
Laurie’s literary endeavours also continued.
She wrote and published a string of short stories and articles and was shortlisted for several literary prizes.
She also undertook pastoral care training to help others.
This would be further supplemented by training in indigenous health and aged care.
In her later years she became a regular and much-loved volunteer at the Miles Carinya Hostel, Milton House Respite Centre, Miles Hospital and St Vincent de Paul Society.
In 2023, she was awarded lifetime membership to the Society in recognition for her years of service.
Laurie was a quiet, unassuming woman.
She believed everyone was amazing, in their own special way, often understating her achievements.
When those achievements are taken in context with health issues that occurred throughout her adult life, they can be considered truly extraordinary.
At the age of 19, she collapsed while playing tennis.
The medical diagnosis had been epilepsy, and there had been an early recognition of the debilitating eye disease glaucoma.
In 1959, Laurie lost consciousness while seven months pregnant with her first child.
The child was stillborn.
In an era before organisations such as Lifeline and Beyond Blue she was counselled to simply forget she had given birth and to get on with life.
At the time, Laurie was diagnosed with diabetes and she was released from hospital on a calorie-controlled diet.
The following year she gave birth to her son Stephen by emergency Caesarean section.
Upon release from hospital, she suffered chronic fatigue and dramatic weight loss and was diagnosed as an insulin dependent Type 1 diabetic.
In the following two years she suffered two miscarriages before giving birth to Philip in 1963.
The next year son Gregory John was born.
It was a complicated birth with the baby’s lungs collapsing and resuscitation required.
After a series of miscarriages, daughter Bernadette Mary was born in 1970, with her last child Terence born in 1972.
Laurie received the Kellion Medal for both 50 and 60-year diabetic anniversaries.
Laurie Theresa Harbort died peacefully in her sleep on January 23, 2024, at Toowoomba General Hospital.
We would like to thank you for the joy and love you gave to “children” of all ages throughout your life.
