Ben Apfelbaum

DYMOCKS LITERARY LUNCH : MIRIAM MARGOLYES

Miriam Margolyes delighted a capacity crowd held at the Sofitel Wentworth as part of the Dymocks Literary luncheon series. 

Here to promote her memoir THIS MUCH IS TRUE, she was capably interviewed by recent senate candidate and feminist activist Jane Caro.

Margolyes commenced by saying how supportive and loving her parents were and in return she cared for them for the rest of their lives. She strongly disapproved of the way society shoved elderly people out of sight and out of mind in old people’s hostels.

At 81 years old she was determined that this would not be her fate. 

She expressed her pride in being Jewish and felt that there was a certain unique comfort and bond sitting around a table with fellow Jews, eating chopped liver and chicken soup.

However, she did admit that not many of his Jewish friends and  relatives disapproved of her pro Palestinians views.

She attended Cambridge University at the time when the Universities reviews known as the Cambridge Footlights comprised of luminaries such as John Cleese and Graham Gardiner. As a woman  she was largely excluded from participating and it was only the late Tim Brook-Taylor who apologised to her for this blatant discrimination. Margolyes added that John Cleese never apologises for hanything! 

Margolyes also revealed that she is a proud Australian citizen and was chuffed to receive her  naturalisation certificate from Julia Gillard.

When she is in the country.she resides at Robertson in NSW

When asked what she regarded as her finest achievement, Margolyes said that it was her solo stage work, DICKENS WOMEN, that gave her particular satisfaction. To the delight of the audience she performed two of the characters from the play.

She was quizzed about her television show MIRIAM AND ALAN : LOST IN SCOTLAND with her great friend Alan Cumming.

The show was so popular that another Scottish tour was planned, as well as combining it with a tour of California. She was not looking forward to the latter tour as she had become particularly anti-American, especially during the tenure of President Trump.

Prompted by a member of the audience she related the story of how she was berated  by the Queen to keep quiet. This story is so funny and involved, that Margolyes herself referred the audience  to a Graham Norton television episode which included the guest Will-I-Am. Finally she made a plea for the protection of the ABC which was the authentic voice of Australians. She also advocated for the rights and opportunities of First, Nations people.

As the audience were her cohort meaning  over seventy she was asked what great adventure people in their golden autumn years should undertake. Without hesitation she said that people should,stay with an indigenous community on country. She confided that the wisdom and humour of the elders was profound and the hospitality afforded her was one of  the warmest she had received.

Enchanted and delighted audience members lined up to have a brief chat or a quick photo and sign her memoir THIS MUCH IS TRUE.

Miriam Margoyles
Jane Caro and Miriam Margoyles

All photos by Ben Apfelbaum

 

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.