Hell's Bells & Panther Tracks - the Rich Legacy of Helen Seager (1900-1981)

As a 13 year old, Helen Seager's poetic entry in the Wattle Day Awards was deemed worthy of a special mention in The Advertiser on Saturday 6 September 1913. Subsequently, her adult writing career spanned around 50 years, from the 1920s to the early 1970s. A journalist was not necessarily a specialist in those times, and Helen's work covered every aspect of daily life-tragedies, criminal trials, fashion, sporting events, theatre reviews, shipping arrivals, cookery, Dorothy Dix style...
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As a 13 year old, Helen Seager's poetic entry in the Wattle Day Awards was deemed worthy of a special mention in The Advertiser on Saturday 6 September 1913. Subsequently, her adult writing career spanned around 50 years, from the 1920s to the early 1970s. A journalist was not necessarily a specialist in those times, and Helen's work covered every aspect of daily life-tragedies, criminal trials, fashion, sporting events, theatre reviews, shipping arrivals, cookery, Dorothy Dix style answers to readers' questions, and feature articles about famous visitors to Australia-a thorough grounding in her chosen career.These entertaining personal recollections were written by Helen Seager in the 1970s as the basis for an autobiography, which she never managed to complete. Helen's daughter, Harriet Houghton, has assembled these recollections and poems and added a brief biography of Helen to give context to the work.The title, Hell's Bells and Panther Tracks, was one of Helen's favourite sayings, especially when she had her 'wild up', and the title also reflects the rather chaotic and sometimes dangerous situations she faced in her long career.She worked for newspapers across South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. In 1950 The Argus in Melbourne sent her to Europe to report her impressions via her daily column 'Good Morning Ma'am'.