Jill Roe, AO, was born at Tumby Bay on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula and spent her first fourteen years living on the Peninsula. She is Professor Emerita in Modern History at Macquarie University, Sydney, where she was awarded a DLitt as a higher research degree for her work on Australian writer Miles Franklin, principally the Margarey Medal-winning Stella Miles Franklin: A biography. Her publications in Australian social and cultural history include numerous entries in the Australian Dictionary of Biography and The Wakefield Companion to South Australian History. In 2016, Jill was awarded the Australian Dictionary of Biography Medal for long and distinguished service. Jill Roe passed away on 13 January 2017 after a long battle with illness and injury.
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'The Eyre Peninsula, a vast plain of golden grain, golden fleece, golden grass, scrub, and not many people, is one of Australia's less glamorous destinations, but unlike some who have reached the top, academic historian Jill Roe presents her rural homeland with affection.' - Robert Murray, Quadrant
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'A very readable, sometimes personal, social history of the Eyre Peninsula … a fascinating record of its pre and post-settlement life.' - Delys Bird, Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature
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'A valuable record of country life in South Australia.' - Helen Eddy, ReadPlus
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'What a fascinating read it was - for its content, which tells the story of Eyre Peninsula, a part of Australia I don't know, and for its form and style.' - Whispering Gums
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'Roe skilfully weaves the family story and her own recollections (both as a child and as a recent return visitor) into the larger history, writing in a deceptively easy style.' - Susan Marsden, Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society
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'A captivating combination of regional history and memoir.' - Bernard Whimpress, Newtown Review of Books