Pamela is the remarkable memoir of one of Australia's most inspiring and pioneering women. It is a story of growing up in Australia during the 1930s and 40s; of travelling the world as an envoy of the Myer retailing empire; of daring business success and failure; of artistic and charitable achievement; of heartache and betrayal; and ultimately of determination and survival.
Pamela was born a Myer: a family of humble Russian immigrant origins that grew into an empire of untold wealth and prospect but also ambition, greed and treachery. As a young idealistic woman in the 1950s she was sent to research the burgeoning retail business in London, Paris and New York. There, she met with the worlds greatest couturiers and dined with British and French royalty and the elite of the Russian military. But in spite of her prowess, she was ostracised for being young and being a woman.
In the 1960s, she married into the British aristocracy and returned to settle down (along with her new husband Simon's five poodles!) in Melbourne.They raised three children and their house became a mecca for British financial interests, state governors and a prime minister. But there were storms brewing – following her father's death, frictions within the Myer clan ruptured, and shortly after loss compounded loss as she lost her eldest son in a tragic car accident.
Determined to move forward, in 1961 Pamela was appointed chair of the museum of Modern Art of Australia and in 1963 persuaded Qantas to exhibit Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly paintings in London and Paris. In the 1980s and 90s she progressed her arts administration and charitable work, establishing the Committee for Melbourne in 1986 and the Focus Melbourne group in 1993.
To this day, Pamela Myer Warrender continues her tireless campaign to promote Australian cultural and charitable life. By turns inspiring and moving, her story is one of riches and rags, of fashion and travel, and of romance and tragedy.
