Writer set oral history landmark

To those who knew her personally, writer and social researcher Alison Gray, who died in Wellington from motor neuron disease, was so warm, kind, funny and unassuming that it was easy to overlook her professional achievements. Yet these spread her name and influence across New Zealand and the South Pacific.

Born in Lower Hutt, the third of six children, she went to Hutt Central School, then on to the fee-paying Chilton St James. She used to laugh about this school’s ‘‘weird little hat’’, and pupils being made to walk with books on their heads to improve their posture. Later, her family moved to Thorndon, and in 1955 she went to Wellington Girls’ College, where she remained for five years.

She left school at 16 and was eager to go to university, but her parents insisted all their children should get a steady job and contribute to the family income, while studying part-time. She found work in the Tourist and Publicity Department, which allowed her time off to study at Victoria University.

She married architect Ross Webb in 1963, and they eventually moved to Auckland, living on the North Shore. Here, she continued studies towards an MA in English. Daughter Ginny was born in 1968 and Bronnie two years later. Son Sam came along in 1971.

When the marriage broke up, Alison and the three children returned to

Wellington. In 1976, all four were badly injured when a car tyre blew out on the road near Waiouru. Alison was trapped under the steering wheel and was lucky to survive. It took months to recover, helped by ‘‘wonderful friends’’.

In 1978 she gained a masters degree in sociology at Victoria University, afterwards saying, ‘‘I couldn’t have done that without the support of two wonderful professors, John McCreary and Jim Robb, who were imbued with compassion and humanity as well as scholarship.’’ These two found her work teaching social research methods so that she had an income while studying and single-parenting. In the early 1980s, she became a partner in Urban Research Associates.

She met her partner of 37 years, Garth Baker, in 1984, when they worked on the ground-breaking TV series Expressions of Sexuality. Alison went on to write a book based on the series.

By then she had published other books. The novel The Marriage Maze

came out in 1979, and eight years later Stepping Out, written for teens. With Sheelagh Leary, she co-authored Fun for Kids (1987).

She probably found her widest readership, though, with a series of books based on interviews. The Smith Women

(with Rosemary Barrington, 1981) was a landmark in its use of oral history interviews to portray women’s experiences of and attitudes to their lives.

The Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English finds her the most prolific of those contributing to a wave of such work. The Jones Men followed in 1983, and later volumes were Teenangels: Being a New Zealand Teenager (1988); Springs in my Heels: Stories about Women and Change (1991); and Mothers and Daughters (1993).

Her work was inspired by feminism in its widest sense: never did she allow ideology to overrule her humanity. In 1987, she spent a year as the Claude McCarthy Fellow at Victoria University’s Stout Research Centre, during which she wrote Teenangels, and decided not to return to teaching: ‘‘I wanted to learn more – from real people.’’ So she set up Gray Matter Research, with Garth as a minority shareholder. Thus alongside her 11 books, she contributed to many government reports, evaluations and projects. She also monitored development projects and ran evaluation training across the South Pacific.

Aformer colleague says: ‘‘She was so very well-respected in the research community and someone who we have always admired, both for her stellar work and also for her humanity and kindness.’’ Another says: ‘‘What a great colleague she was – intelligent, perceptive, compassionate and such fun! Research could be a pretty dry occupation at times but never a boring moment with Alison. What a privilege to have worked with her.’’

One project in which she invested her passion and intellect was carried out for the Wellington branch of the Huntington’s Disease Association. She interviewed sufferers, caregivers and people at risk of Huntington’s disease, a key issue for the latter being whether they wanted to be informed they were at risk of developing this hereditary disease.

In 1990 she received a New Zealand Commemoration Medal for services to women, and in 2003 a Queen’s Service Medal for research and policy work.

She worked hard but also loved travel. Her adventures, with and without Garth, took her to Iceland, the Galapagos, to Scotland numerous times, parts of Africa and Asia, as well as all over Europe. Her letters home to friends and family were a treat – the ironic view of the writer never dulling her curiosity and interest.

She loved being outdoors: she and Garth were intrepid trampers and keen campers, and for many years she cycled to and from city meetings and her home in Highbury. She co-ordinated that suburb’s pest-catching network.

She received her motor neuron disease diagnosis in early 2019, and the last seven months of her life were spent in Te Hopai Home in Newtown. It was a cruel fate for someone so energetic. But she was always pleased to see friends, and she never stopped reading – especially once bedbound. In fact, her appetite for books was so voracious it was challenging for friends and family to keep her supplied with books she hadn’t already read.

Sadly, she died during lockdown while she wasn’t allowed to see friends. She is survived by partner Garth, three adult children, two grandchildren and a wide extended family in New Zealand and Australia. A memorial service will be held when her many friends and family can gather. –