DOROTHY Richards was young in the days when ladies wore gloves and hats to go shopping, and the postman came twice a day.
The Williamstown identity, who turns 91 in June, will launch her second book, Free Range, at the Williamstown Literary Festival this weekend.
Described as an eclectic collection of relaxing, light-hearted and thoughtful fiction, non-fiction, poetry, personal reflections and memoir pieces, Free Range has taken a lifetime to write.
Mrs Richards took naturally to writing with hundreds of letters to her beloved during World War II.
Harold, her late husband, was posted overseas in the navy for three-and-a-half years.
“Then I joined the council for adult eduction in the city and went to writing classes,” she said.
She also broadcast her short stories over then radio station 3LO.
“Occasionally I’d get a short story printed in one of the magazines Women’s Weekly, Woman’s Day, and the Weekly Times. They used to pay very little,” she said.
Before long Mrs Richards, with the help of another writer, founded the Society of Women’s Writers Victorian branch in 1970.
Her first book, An Anthology Of Aunts: Growing Up In Williamstown, has been reprinted several times since its publication in 1998.
It is part memoir, part social commentary, part local history and details her experience of Williamstown as a quiet seaside suburb compared with the busy tourist town of today.
The short stories of Free Range are said to be grounded in everyday situations, with her characters beset by everyday problems, disappointments and desires.
Mrs Richards grew up with four older sisters, and she had four boys, who in turn have provided her with nine grandchildren.
“My grandchildren are very precious to me,” she said of the reason behind dedicating her latest work to them.
“My husband died six or seven years ago, but we had a wonderful life together.
“He was a country boy, and even though he lived (in Williamstown) from 1946 until he died, he’d only just been accepted (as a local).
“There’s something about Williamstown.”
Mrs Richards said Williamstown had not changed a great deal besides many more people moving in, but the lifestyle practices had.
“When I was young only the chap up the street had a car. He was a sail maker; we used to come home for lunch, and he used to say ‘hop in have a drive’, so we did,” she said.
“Tradespeople used to come by in horse and cart, take orders for the grocer on Thursday and deliver on Friday. The butcher and baker also … it was a different world.”
Mrs Richards said she was now content, after spending her life “chasing time”.
“I am happy where I am now, you have to go on with change,” she said.
“I have to use a walking stick, my hair is straight and grey, my legs are wobbly, I am not as free as a bird.”
Free Range will be launched at 11am on Sunday, 6 May, at Williamstown Library as part of Williamstown Literary Festival.
