Cade Lucas
The partner of much loved crime author and lawyer, Kerry Greenwood, has paid tribute to his lifelong companion who died last month aged 70.
David Greagg, who lived with Greenwood in Seddon, announced her death on Monday following a private funeral last weekend.
The author of the popular Miss Fisher Murder Mystery series which was later adapted for television, died on March 26 following a long illness.
In a statement to Star Weekly, Greagg said Greenwood emulated her writing hero PG Wodehouse by offering consolation and joy to those who needed it.
“That was her dream, that was her real life’s work,” said Greagg, adding that Greenwood’s writing was deliberately at odds with her working class upbringing in Footscray, something that sometimes confounded critics.
“Kerry was frequently advised that as a working-class writer she ought to be writing gritty realism about life on those mean streets. Why are you writing in the footsteps of Sayers and PG Wodehouse instead?”
Greenwood studied law at Melbourne University and went on to become a long serving lawyer with Victorian Legal Aid before finding great success with her first Phryne Fisher book, Cocaine Blues, in 1989.
She went on to write another 22 Phryne Fisher books, as well as the Corinna Chapman series about a crime solving baker and a number of non-fiction books.
In 2003 she won the Ned Kelly Award for crime writing, lifetime contribution and was awarded an OAM in 2020.
All the while Greenwood continued to working as a lawyer, but according to Greagg, avoided mixing her legal work with her writing.
“She did not want to write about her court cases because (a) they were private, and she thought it improper to steal their stories, and (b) my readers really don’t want to know about some of my cases because they’re too awful for words,” said Greagg, who added that her belief in equality before the law was just as strong as providing an escape for her readers.
“She only stopped doing her court work when her health had deteriorated to the point that she could barely stand up in court any more.”
Yarraville’s Sun Bookstore hosted many of Greenwood’s book launches and has set up a special tribute in its front window.
“I just wanted to say “Kerry I love you I miss you” said owner Deb Force of the tribute.
“She was generous and fabulous.”
