I promised I would tell you more about Angelica, the sharkcatcher’s daughter. As I have just started the sixth short story in this collection I thought it was about time I gave you the background on the first story ( my first post on this blog) that was given to me by Angelica.
She is better known today as Annie, or Anne, Steng. I met her ten years ago and, like many before me, instantly liked her. She is tall and gentle and has the type of face, soft and open, that is appealing in many ways. If you were to walk into a room full of strangers she is the one you would most likely be drawn to.
Annie and I have had discussions around what it is about her that makes her particularly approachable. She says she knows there is something, as she is often the person stopped in the street for directions or in the supermarket aisles for advice.
Perhaps many of us just recognise the gardener in her. For years Annie worked as a heritage horticulturalist at Elizabeth Farm in Parramatta. She was known then as the “Custodian of the Elizabeth Farm trees.” The title seems to be the perfect fit for her.
Annie is also a writer and a piece she has written about the trees of Elizabeth Farm was published in the Memory of Trees; the life, meaning and significance of trees in the Parramatta region.
Annie is now fifty four years old. Her father, Walter the sharkcatcher, died several years ago. Annie and her mother Waltraud, miss him very much.
I thought you might like to see a few photos of him.
Here is Walter showing some of his babies his latest catch.
Walter and Waltraud with one of the babies on Golden Beach.
Annie is also a cancer survivor. She has featured in Cancer Council clips. I love this particular one because we get a few glimpses of her garden and home. Both are full of interesting things that have been lovingly collected and tended.
Annie is also a wonderful artist.
As you can easily imagine, Annie has many more stories she could tell. I am hoping she will give another one to me.
If she does I will share it here with you.
More about the sharkcatcher’s daughter by Maralyn Parker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Maralyn Parker 