I never wanted to be a journalist. As a kid from Orange, growing up young and regional, our options were limited. In Year 12, or we still may have called it Sixth Form back then, two things happened.
Subscribe now for unlimited access . Login or signup to continue reading All articles from our website The digital version of Today's Paper Breaking news alerts direct to your inbox All articles from the other regional websites in your area Continue We were taken to the local government service centre and shown how to fill out the appropriate forms to qualify for "benefits". Or a few of us "smarter ones" were handed a booklet from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Centre and left to flounder.
Well maybe there were three options; several girls I went to school with were mothers by the time we were 18. Nevertheless, I found myself at the then Canberra College of Advanced Education in 1985 hoping to become a school teacher. It was an appropriate career option for a young girl from the bush.
The only reason I came to Canberra was because I was madly in love with a boy from Tumut called Craig Wise, the captain of a nearby school's rugby league team. He was off to Canberra to become a teacher, so I was too. (If anyone knows where he is, shout out.
) Goodbye, farewell, amen. Picture Shutterstock Once I was at CCAE (it will never be UC in my mind) the whole world opened up. I didn't even know ANU existed until I got to Canberra.
Back then the UAC book didn't include all tertiary institutions. Ooh, look. Suddenly there was so much more I could do with my life.
And sport has been a part of my life since day one. Some of my earliest memories involve sitting on the bonnet of the family Kingswood watching the footy, learning to read via my dad's copies of Rugby League Week , wanting to play hockey as well as my mum. The idea that I could make a living by explaining why sport thrilled me so much was suddenly the most thrilling thing in my life.
Even more thrilling than Craig Wise. So I left university with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, a major in literary studies, a sub-major in sports journalism, and went forth to the Northern Star in Lismore. There, the sports department took Thursday afternoons off to play golf and the lads banned me from covering games involving the Evans Heads Bombers because I had a crush on their outside centre Adam Blunn who made every match report I wrote for the first six months.
(If you know where he is, shout out.) And here I am, 35-odd years later, about to hang up my boots. Yes, dear reader.
Goodbye, farewell and amen. The final whistle has sounded, my innings has come to a close. I'm tucking my red hanky in my back pocket and walking from the field with my head held high.
I have loved every moment of my career. Except one Melbourne Cup night in 1994 when then chief sub Andrew Fraser wouldn't hear my excuses about why I couldn't work out the ratios of a full-length photo-finish photo that came in two pieces via fax from Flemington. I stayed in the sports department until my first child came along, my beautiful Blossie in 2001.
She was born the year the Twin Towers fell, I was told I couldn't return to work part-time, the world was falling to pieces. So Bill Goodall, who few of you will remember, took me under his wing and invited me into the features team, the first part-time worker The Canberra Times ever had. Bill was a Scotsman who thought he had us fooled about his smoking habits (those were the days when a night shift would involve the old sub-editors getting through two long necks of VB and a pack of Alpine Lights).
I heard from Bill this week, along with several other old colleagues. Bill said, "It was a joy to work with you, Karen. You are a prime complete all-rounder, and a lovely person with it.
Here's to a happy future for you." And you know what? I am a prime complete all-rounder, Bill. Thank you.
I might not have written too many page-one stories in my career but I have written many, many words that have touched many, many people. Be it in sport, lifestyle, travel, or food and wine. There are certain young journalists who come into The Canberra Times office these days with their degrees in international relations or political science and the like, who look down on me.
I know you do. Who roll their eyes, like my own children did when they were your age. What would I know? Well what I know is that journalism is about so much more than analytics and videos and SEO headlines.
But maybe it's not anymore. I don't know. Maybe that's why it's time for me to go.
For me, it's always been about telling stories that reach people. Here's to everyone from over the years, those of you who've written in and told me that something I've written made you smile, or made you cry, or made you enjoy a meal out with someone you love. They're the notes I've revelled in the most.
That I may have been lucky enough to stir some real emotion in someone. A few tears might be shed today. Thank you.
Share Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Email Copy Karen Hardy Canberra Times sports journalist Email: [email protected].
au Email: [email protected].
au More from Life Indulge me as I bid farewell to The Canberra Times after 35 years 1hr ago Ask Fuzzy: What colour is the universe? What books would you grab if your house was on fire? The Estate is treated to a new lease of life Ask Fuzzy: Why do we think about nothing? Don't get lost in the fog: why ventilation matters.
