Gill Heal was a teacher, writer and director. She wrote and produced acclaimed theatre events that dramatised local history through the spoken word, original music and images. Gill died in January 2026.
Beyond the headlines
At their best, newspapers connect us to something bigger and better than ourselves, writes GILL HEAL. WE HOPE for a lot from newspapers. We want more than just a way to pass the time at breakfast. We...
Faster! Stronger! Higher!
GILL HEAL knows just how Ursain Bolt feels, thanks to her mother’s exquisite sense of timing. By Gill Heal THERE are many things you learn at your mother’s knee. Simple skills like tying your shoe...
The Prof hits on a winning formula
After a lifetime of biochemical research, Dick Wettenhall is now mastering the mysteries of soil, yeast and oak. GILL HEAL meets the prize-winning vigneron.
Mother Courage
Heather Tobias's new poetry collection began as snippets scribbled on bits of paper in the depths of a mother’s worst nightmare.
A new row to hoe
The Post spoke to three Gippsland farmers who are responding creatively to new challenges.
All in a day’s wok
Korumburra chef Tom Liu delights in satisfying the rather strange tastes of his Australian customers. Gill Heal reports
The Wichita songman
Composer Larry Hills draws on his American heritage of choral singing to delve deep into the history of his adopted Australian community.
A woman of the world
Cherie Smirl wanted to make a difference in the world but before she could do that she had to come to terms with her own place in it. By Gill Heal US author David Foster Wallace called it our natural,...
A citizen of the Powlett
Paul Speirs realised he couldn’t save the world but he could help to save his own catchment, taking nature as his guide.
South Gippsland snapshots
On Australia Day, GILL HEAL celebrated those who grasp the opportunity to make a difference.
Reading between the lines
GILL HEAL looks back at the first 18 months of the Bass Coast Post and sees democracy at work, with its rights and obligations. SCROLLING through the back stories in the Bass Coast Post, I am surprised...
The great defender
From the personal to the political, Hazel Swift walks a straight line. Gill Heal meets a woman known to many simply as The Cat Lady. By Gill Heal HAZEL Swift hasn’t always been preoccupied with animal...
Not a blackboard in sight
When students turn teachers, new worlds open for the teachers and the taught. A visit to Bass Valley Primary School was a lesson in learning for former teacher Gill Heal. By Gill Heal MR JENKYN’S...
The outside view
Photo: Jim McFarlane Twenty photographers, 20 perspectives shot over two weekends ... MAPping Wonthaggi takes a fresh look at our familiar world. By Gill Heal This weekend, Wonthaggi became the...
The alchemy of light
The films were always wonderful but what he loved most was the flickering beam that came from the projectionist’s room. Keith Stevens looks back on a lifetime in cinema. By Gill Heal When Hopalong...
Welcome to our house
Sparks can fly – in the best sense – when people work together, Jan Bourne believes. By Gill Heal August 31, 2013 TEN years ago I went to a community development conference in the city, the sort...
The search for order
Meryl and Hartley Tobin’s passions are very different, but they both bring a meticulous approach to their subjects. By Gill Heal BEST not to leave the car at the gate when you call on Meryl and Hartley...
Someone to watch over us
When the unthinkable happens and people are trapped in mangled cars, members of Loch’s rescue unit are quickly on the scene. Gill Heal spoke to one family who will never forget their kindness to a loved...
A pearler, stitch by thrilling stitch
Anna Kentwell’s seaweed dress encrusted with pearls nestled in flowers of coral was a labour of love and imagination. By Gill Heal PEARLS. On the first day of her VCE product design course last year,...
Back from the brink
They left for Vietnam as boys and returned a year later as battle-scarred men. Gill Heal reports on one man's experience of trying to settle back into a life of farming and footy. By Gill Heal TOM...