James Brear - Decima Norman, The First Golden Girl
I was at a work reunion drinks in December 2015 in the city and talking to one of my former work mates who now works as a researcher in the Melbourne Cricket Club Sports Library (at Melbourne's famous MCG). He told me of a new biography about Australia's first Golden Girl, Decima Norman. She came from relative obscurity in Western Australia to win an unrivalled five gold medals in track and field at the Sydney Empire Games of 1938. Through no fault of her own she was destined not to become an Olympian, but by establishing the Western Australia Women's Amateur Athletic Association she ensured that those who followed her would not suffer the same fate.
I ordered the book which duly arrived and has now been read. I was lucky enough to subsequently meet the author James Brear and chat with him about his efforts in researching the book and sourcing photos and memorabilia to include.
Having finished the read (an easy read at only 134 pages), it summarises her life well enough but lacks the personal touch that might have come from having access to in-depth interviews or such like - Norman was a private person and obviously shied away from any interviews at a personal level. She was adopted as a baby (the last chapter of the book is very interesting as it speculates on whom her father might have been) and never married, even though she was never short of prospective partners and was regularly invited out and loved dancing. An enigmatic character to say the least.
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