SHEILA Twine’s enthusiasm is infectious. Ask her one question and she is off with breathless stream of anecdotes, information and opinion, all of it fascinating.
She is the recently elected chairman of the University of the Third Age (U3A) Mandurah, a group devoted to keeping semi-retired and retired people mentally and socially active. Part of a national movement, Mandurah’s U3A is stimulating and enlightening, in part due to Dr Twine’s boundless energy.
“Our one works as a medieval university worked – a university of scholars,” she said, ticking off the impressive credentials of many of U3A’s 145 members. “They’ve gotten to the top of the tree, so we get first-class presentations.”
The same can be said of Dr Twine. In February she spoke at U3A on two contrasting, influential Turks, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Hussan Jimea; she also has lectured on the background and influence of American-born Queen Noor of Jordan. Next up is measurement, the history of which she aims to make humorous and informative.
“It’s going to take many, many hours to prepare, but that’s good,” she said, thrilled by a task many would find onerous.
Dr. Twine’s energy and commitment to community service are inspiring to Wilma Mann, a historian who has worked with her on many things. The two met in 1999 when they combined on a community project for centenary celebrations in Serpentine-Jarrahdale, where Dr Twine lived at the time.
Their efforts resulted in a book written by Ms Mann, Harnessing Voices: a People’s History of the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, and collaboration on a string of historical, local government and community projects.
More recently, Ms Mann digitally recorded her friend’s life story, a project that spurred another of Dr Twine’s passions, encouraging people to record their life stories.
“She’s an absolute driving force,” Ms Mann said. “But she doesn’t just drive things; she backs it with so much knowledge.
“Because she’s been on 6 million committees, she knows how to get things done. She’s very professional.”
On a recent morning, Dr Twine fielded phone calls from various people seeking her time and expertise whilst discussing her life. Her calendar is full: she participates in dance; plays bridge; does wax encaustic painting, which she demonstrates, teaching adults and children; and volunteers at a museum. And, of course, U3A, which will soon celebrate its 25th anniversary.
She also works with Pets of Older Persons (POOPs), a charity for which she raised funds and started the cell in the Peel region. It gives assistance to the elderly to enable them to keep their pets.
“I walk a dog twice a week for an old, frail lady,” said Dr. Twine, who is 78 herself. “It’s a very small amount of help but it makes a huge difference.”
Dr Twine, who has a PhD in special education (how students learn), returned to Mandurah last year after living in the hills outside Perth for 40 years.
She grew up in Scotland and, under threat from German bombing during World War II, was evacuated from Dundee along with other children. She attended boarding school in Switzerland, then spent her young adulthood in London, where she worked and met her husband, Adam.
Along with many other Brits, she and Adam decided to emigrate to Australia.
“We came to see if we would like WA. That was in 1967,” she said with a laugh.
What followed was a career with the Education Department, after which she started a consulting business. She wrote a series of internationally acclaimed education manuals featuring practical, stimulating learning activities, which was groundbreaking at the time. As the demand for Literacy Lifters and the ensuing Comprehension Lifters series grew, she sold her consultancy.
She has also produced a book on her mother’s life and on her own, which she wrote at age 75.
“The population hit 7 billion, and I turned 75. The world had a milestone and so did I,” Dr Twine said. Not wanting to put off the autobiography any longer, she reasoned, “You never know what’s going to happen.”
Ms Mann said it is precisely this quality, the relentless quest for doing new and meaningful things, which drives Dr. Twine.
“Sheila is an extraordinary woman with a lifelong commitment to community service in areas close to her heart,” Ms Mann said.
“She has led an extraordinary and varied life based on the idea that there is always a solution to a problem and that there’s nothing women can’t do if they so choose.”
Twine is eager to share her experiences, be they academic or creative. A recent devotee of encaustic wax art, she now demonstrates the technique in the Mandurah area.
Upon having a display she’d done on the art form admired by a visitor, she insisted that the viewer attempt encaustic. You don’t say no to Sheila Twine.
“You need to try it. It takes three seconds,” she said, heating the iron used and opening up a box of coloured wax sticks for melting. Indeed, a few minutes later her visitor completed a surreal-looking brown, blue and purple piece of art. You don’t say no to Sheila Twine.
That’s what it’s all about: learning new things and staying active.
“Absolutely!” she said.
