Helene Chung Martin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Helene Chung Martin, journalist and author, is a former Beijing correspondent, the first female ever posted abroad by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Lazy Man in China is co-written by her late partner, the witty self-dubbed lazy man John Martin. She is now an honorary research fellow at Monash Asia Institute, Melbourne, and working on a childhood memoir.
Born in Hobart, Helene Chung is a fourth-generation Tasmanian Chinese, the younger daughter of Dorothy Henry and Charles Chung. Her maternal great-grandfather left the southern Chinese county of Taishan (or Toishan) for the tin mines of northern Tasmania in the 1880s. At the same time her paternal grandfather, from Xinhui (or Sunwei) county, began as a market gardener in Hobart.
Helene attended St Mary’s College and graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Batchelor of Arts (Hons) and a Master of Arts in history. On campus she spent most time cavorting about on stage or directing plays for the Old Nick Company.
Contents |
[edit] Journalism
Her first interview - on a claimed sighting of the Tasmanian tiger - was broadcast on the ABC radio program AM in 1968. As a freelancer for three years overseas, in Singapore, Hong Kong, London and Cairo, in 1971 she made headlines with the first radio interview granted by HRH The Princess Anne. Back with the ABC, she joined This Day Tonight in 1974 and was the first non-white reporter on Australian television. In 1976 Helene interviewed her former university classmate, history lecturer John Martin, who became the love of her life. The first woman posted abroad by the ABC, as Beijing correspondent 1983-1986, she also freelanced for BBC, CBS, Hong Kong radio, NPR and NZBC.
[edit] Writing
- Shouting From China, Penguin Books, Melbourne, 1988, tells of her adventures and tribulations as a foreign correspondent. A 1989 edition includes her coverage of the democracy demonstrations.
- John Martin's death from cancer in 1993 prompted her to write Gentle John My Love My Loss, Hill of Content, Melbourne, 1995.
- Lazy Man in China (Pandanus Books, Canberra, 2004): the story of China over two decades – its transition from old communism to new capitalism, intertwined with Helene and John's own love story.
[edit] References
- Significant Tasmanian Women: Helene Chung.
- Tasmanian Tin Miners, Addicts and Merchants: an account by Helene of her unconventional family background.
- ABC Around the World, History of ABC Foreign Reporting in China.
[edit] External links
- Booked Out Speakers Agency: Helene Chung.
- Some of the 90 colour photos, reviews and an excerpt: Lazy Man in China photos.
- Robin William's Ockham's Razor, 16 January 2005, Transcript of Talk by Helene Chung Martin.
- ABC Overnights, Audio and summary of Peter Blight interviewing Helene Chung Martin.
- SBS Radio, Audio of Helene Chung Martin interviewed by Rebecca Henschke.
- Melbourne Chinese Studies Group Meeting with Chinese diplomat-defector Chen Yonglin and Others chaired by Helene Chung Martin.
- The Tasmanian Chungs from Xinhui including Helene's paternal grandfather.
