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Rose Hacker and Jenna Bailey surrounded by children and grandchildren of the women who wrote for the magazine
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Tales of remarkable women
Columnist Rose Hacker a guest at celebration of club that valued friendship
VETERAN New Journal columnist Rose Hacker was guest of honour at a moving celebration of women’s lives on Thursday.
The 101-year-old correspondent, who writes a fortnightly column for the New Journal, attended the launch of a book, Can any mother help me? by Canadian academic Jenna Bailey, at the October Gallery in Bloomsbury.
The book tells the real-life story of a group of housewives who set up a magazine called the Co-operative Correspondence Club more than 70 years ago after a desperate plea for help from a lonely mother.
The resulting magazine – a bi-monthly publication made up of articles written by each woman on subjects close to their hearts and painstakingly bound and circulated to each member of the group – continued for some 55 years until death and old age cut it short.
Nine years ago, Ms Hacker, a club member whose pen name was Electra, donated several boxes of its papers to Sussex University, where they were found by Masters student Ms Bailey and turned into a book.
At Thursday’s launch, Ms Hacker met up again with many of the children and grandchildren of her fellow writers – some for the first time in years.
She said: “It was absolutely incredible. I had met some of them as babies and quite a few of them were very close to me. Some of the others I just met recently because of the book.
“The co-operative club is something we should have a lot more of today. Women just being friends and supporting each other – not bits of computers but real people.
“We used to really love and support each other. Some women even took each other’s children during the war.”
Daniel Wheatley, who attended the book launch with his father Ted, had fond memories of his grandmother, Ivy Wheatley, whose pen name was Cornelia and who was one of the original members of the group. She died a few years ago.
He said: “I knew my gran had a secret life. I remember when I was growing up I could go around her house and, if she was sitting upstairs typing, she was probably typing the newsletter and she wasn’t to be disturbed. My grandmother was writing letters until her sight failed her in her early 90s.
“Coming here this evening is like finding a whole new branch of your family. It’s very moving. It’s remembering their lives and the friendships they had. They kept friendships alive for over 50 years.”
Author Jenna Bailey, whose family flew over from Canada to attend the launch, said: “It’s a story of life and people and sharing that continues today. When I met Rose, she was 97 and it just kicked things off for me. It made me realise how many remarkable women had been involved in this.”
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