Her old friend Anne Davies remembered that on the first day of their cadetship in 1985, Whelan appeared under a cloud of dark curls and wearing a Laura Ashley dress as she marked her transition from ancient history teacher to journalist. Her new friend, Warwick Tiernan, remembered that on the first day of her new job at the ABC nearly 35 years later she wore leopard print stilletos and was “a breath of fresh air”.
“It felt to me like the subtext was, ‘Here I am, ready to take on the world’. It was also the subtext for so much she said and did every day.”magazine and editorial director of the ABC, died on June 26, aged 63, after a long struggle with cancer. “The union was always much more civilised and superior to the SRC,” Bell said. “That was no doubt why Judith preferred it.”
Two of them – current editor Bevan Shields and his predecessor Lisa Davies – were sitting among the front rows as tributes were read out. They were among dozens of journalists and former journalists who had worked with Whelan, including former Herald editors Peter Fray, Mark Scott and Darren Goodsir and former Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood. They recognised the description of her that was provided by Davies: a perfect mix of optimism and scepticism.
Her husband wondered where she got it from. She was not an exercising type of person, Henning said. She had been a camper before deciding it was just housework in the rain without the conveniences of home, he said. She had tried cycling and he had never seen her so angry.