Now to balance up a little, here are some light hearted reflections by Mum about her early life in Melbourne. Her writing in these pages and in the many letters she wrote to family and friends shows her fine wit and enthusiasm for life. She was a bright student and what she calls her restlessness as a child was very likely, it seems to me, to be caused by the pace of school activities being rather slower than her brain needed.
Dad said of Mum, in his Yellow Book for the family
“Pat was (and is) one of the main reasons for the credibility I have had
as an academic. The brighter ones among my seniors and peers have
known how bright she is, not only because she can make them laugh but
also because she can hold her own in any argument on questions of
politics or policy – hold her own, or win hands down! So the general
judgement has been, ‘If Corbett is smart enough to be her husband, he
must have some brains after all.’ I’m sure my career owes a great deal to
that.”
Link for a short chapter of Mum’s reflections: Pat Corbett Memories of Childhood
Corbett Family - view from Australia 