It’s been a long while since I sat down for a leisurely read through Cleo, or any magazine for that matter. The best I seem to manage these days is a quick flick through the year-old magazines at the hairdressers.
But as a budding print journalist in my late teens and early 20s, I loved a good ‘mag’ and I particularly liked Cleo – the glamorous covers, the quirky stories, the serious features, the fashion and, dare I say it, the celebrity gossip.
Over the years my interest in the magazine has changed from who was on the cover, to the amazing women behind it. The stand outs for me are Ita Buttrose and Lisa Wilkinson – two inspiring Australian women.
As a young mother of two in 1972, Ita was the founding editor of Cleo and brought to life a magazine that should probably never have seen the light of day. The advice from research on the dummy magazine, was that the target audience hated it and that the magazine shouldn’t go ahead. The rest, as they say is history.
Ita was editor until 1975 before being appointed editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly and then editor in chief of both publications. She went on to head up numerous newspapers and eventually started her own magazine, Ita.
The recent ABC TV series, Paper Giants, introduced Ita to another generation and we can be thankful for that.
In 1985, Lisa Wilkinson was appointed editor of Cleo after four years at the helm of Dolly magazine (Lisa was appointed editor of Dolly at age 21 – making her the youngest editor of a national magazine). She has since enjoyed an illustrious career, including the past nine years as co-host of Channel 9’s Today Show. She was recently appointed editor-at-large of The Huffington Post Australia.
I have also read with admiration about Lisa’s work as a mentor to young women and her role as ambassador for numerous charities.
Ita and Lisa are positive role models, the type I would like for my daughters – strong, capable, independent women who have earned mountains of respect in their careers and, most importantly, as women, mothers, mentors and contributing members of our society.
If ever I had the opportunity to meet either of these women, it would be an honour.
I’m sure they both feel privileged to have played such integral roles in the life of Cleo, a magazine that over 44 years became friend to many a reader, writer, editor and advertiser.
As for this former reader, well I’ve set aside some leisure time to get reacquainted (for the last time) with my old friend, Cleo!
