ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book could not have been written without the support and encouragement from my immediate family, and the wider McWhirter clan, many of whom were unknown to me at the start. Ultimately this is my McWhirter story, and I have told it in a way that only I could, but it is my hope that others who are in some way connected to the McWhirter family, or McWhirters, ‘Queensland’s vast emporium’, will recognise some of their story within these pages.

I am eternally grateful to the McWhirter family, past and present, especially my grandmother Joan and my grandfather Stirling, whose existence – their talents and passions, their flaws and follies – made this book possible.

My mother, Jill McWhirter Fagan, my aunt and godmother, Jean McWhirter McLennan, and my uncle Stirling McWhirter have at various stages provided me with photographs and their childhood recollections. It is no easy thing to delve into barely-there memories, especially those you would rather forget, and I would like to thank Mum and Auntie Jean, in particular, for putting up with my questions, and staying with me throughout the journey, even when things got uncomfortable.

I would also like to thank my father, for playing such a huge part in shaping who I am, and for allowing me the freedom to write this book in the way that the story demanded.

Fiona Fagan, Shane Fagan, Mandy Dowling, Stacy McLennan, Gordon McLennan, for the many, many laughs throughout the years, not to mention loyalty and love. Damon Taylor, just because.

Diana Bond, Nancy Murphy, Noel Herbert, Marion ‘Poppet’ Muller, Andrew McWhirter, Caroline Drew, Penny Protheroe, Bonnie Protheroe and Ruth Small – strangers who became kin – for their time and generosity.

Justine Kennedy, without whom my life in Brisbane would have been a lot less interesting and fun.

The idea for this book first sparked in 1999, almost twenty years ago. To all those who have mentored and nurtured my writing along the way – teachers, editors, fellow writers, friends – thank you. I would particularly like to thank my teachers at UTS, Tony Macris and Delia Falconer, who saw this project’s early promise, and were sympathetic and encouraging of what I was trying to do. Trisha Valliappan, Melissa Ashley, Jessica White, Michelle Dicinoski and the Bright Boats writing group (many of whom I have never met in person) have all provided feedback and encouragement at crucial stages in the project. I am humbled and grateful that Peggy Frew and Susan Johnson, whose writing has always resonated with me, took the time to read this book, and provide such thoughtful and insightful words.

The bulk of this book was written as part of an MPhil within the School of Communications and Arts at the University of Queensland, and funded by a University of Queensland Research Scholarship. I’d like to thank my supervisors Dr Stuart Glover and Associate Professor Bronwyn Lea for their patience, support, and guidance, and Angela Tuohy and Jennifer Yared for helping me to navigate the often confusing, sometimes stressful, but ultimately rewarding higher degree process.

My publisher, Barry Scott, both understood what I was trying to do with this book, and believed in its literary potential. From that first casual email one Thursday morning, through the entire process of bringing What Will Be Worn into the world, I’ve never doubted for a moment that my ‘baby’ was in safe hands.

Lastly, I acknowledge the Turrbal people, traditional owners of Fortitude Valley, where the McWhirter building was constructed and still stands. I also acknowledge the Dharug people, traditional owners of the land on which I was raised, and the Jagera, Gubbi Gubbi, Bundjalung, Bindal and Wulgurukaba peoples, on whose lands I have lived or spent time in while writing and researching this book. I acknowledge that this country was and always will be Aboriginal land.