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.
Throwing caution to the wind
There is a tide in the affairs of man, Shakespeare reckoned, and you only get one chance to catch it. Liz Alger was determined not to miss her chance. By Gill Heal KORUMBURRA’S Coal Creek is full...
The charm of the temporary masterpiece
By Gill Heal “SAND is solid,” says sand sculptor, Ricardo Alves-Ferreira. “The trick is to make it look ethereal.” And over days and even weeks he wields a variety of tiny palette knives, smoothing,...
Courage under fire
As Bass Coast’s volunteer firefighters face one of the most dangerous fire seasons in years, Gill Heal asks what motivates them to put their lives on the line for strangers. Wonthaggi firefighters pictured...
Salt of the earth
For almost a century, Harry Cleeland and Cape Woolamai were inseparable. Gill Heal recalls a gentle, graceful man much of whose life was governed by the sea but who admitted he preferred to stick to...
The show must go on
When a regional show official said his show was the only one in South Gippsland that would survive, Rosemary Loughnan decided to prove him wrong. Thirty-five years later, the Bass Coast Summer Agricultural...
A man of many parts
Born in Belfast, trained in a British drama school, actor Stanley McGeagh has naturally got plenty of the blarney. He’s also a fair dinkum Gippslander, reports Gill Heal . By Gill Heal WHEN Irish...
An open mind goes with the territory
Former full-time political activist Moragh McKay has found common ground with Bass Coast farmers through her work with Landcare. By Gill Heal “YOU’D have been the kind of kid who took tadpoles to kinder,”...
Raise the curtain and let the magic begin
Gill Heal speaks to Wonthaggi Theatre Group director Karen Milkins Hendry.
Land of hope and toil
For Les Kirk, schoolbooks never stood a chance against the allure of a Fergie tractor. In the first of a new series of profiles, Gill Heal reports on a man who’s part of a Krowera farming dynasty. By...