Shirley Brown

Shirley Naomi Brown (née Probert) is an Australian author who has written extensively about the history of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Early life Brown grew up in Burwood in Melbourne, Victoria. She wanted to be a dressmaker, but at aged 16 she contracted polio, which affected her right hand, and meant that she had to find other work. She taught herself to type and got a job as a receptionist for a medical specialist in Collins Street, Melbourne. She went on to work in office positions in advertising agencies and television in both Melbourne and Sydney in office positions. Following Cyclone Tracy, she was vice president of Red Cross, and she helped care for evacuees.

She and George were married in Sydney in 1963, and returned to Alice Springs. They bought their first house in 1966 and were involved in several businesses together, including The Little Shop around 1979. She wrote about Alice Springs and Central Australians and has had several books published. She was also a potter and had an interest in making pottery cats which she showed in two exhibitions of her work.

Brown was included in as part of Twenty Women: a Photographic Exhibition for International Day of People With Disabilities, sponsored by Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Publications

1988 - Short historical pieces published in Colours of This Land, a Bicentennial Anthology published by the Darwin Chapter of the Fellowship of Australian Writers. Other works followed in Scribes in the Centre, Scribes in the Centre 2 and Once Upon a Rock 1991 - My Alice: a personal history of Alice Springs 1993 - Alice Springs past and present with illustrations by George Scott Brown. 1993 - NT Dictionary of Biography Vol 3. Shirley Brown wrote three articles: Hazel Golder Sr Eileen Heath and Bill Waudby. 1998 - Chatting with Centralians: a recorded history of thirty Centralians 2002 - Legends of the Red Heart 2003 - Alec: A living history of the Alice Springs Telegraph Station 2006 - Icons of the Territory