Nancy McKenzie began typing for the author Elizabeth Jolley (1923-2007) in 1968, long before Jolley became famous in the 1980s. She typed all of Jolley\u2019s manuscripts right up until Jolley was admitted to a nursing home in 2002. The covering notes Jolley left when she dropped off her manuscripts give glimpses of Jolley\u2019s humour and writing process. It was Jolley\u2019s running joke that her writing was terrible and she would apologise for asking Nancy to read it. Even as she became world famous, Jolley would write things like, \u2018Dear Nancy, here is something else Awful and Stupid. Elizabeth.\u2019 In one note from 1988, Jolley is being paid well for a commissioned piece of writing and asks Nancy to increase her rate from $1 a page to $1.50. In 1992, Jolley insisted Nancy lift her rate to $2 a page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2022, Â鶹ֱ²¥ Library interviewed Nancy for our oral history program. We asked if Jolley actually had a low opinion of her work. \u2018No, I don\u2019t think she did. Her attitude was she was compelled to write whether she wanted to or not. It was a real need in her.\u2019 Nancy remembered reading Jolley\u2019s early work:<\/p>\n\n\n\n