Robert Milliken papers concerning his biography of Lillian Roxon, ca. 1930-2002

MLMSS 8435

fonds

ca. 1930-2002

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Cartographic Materials, Clippings, Ephemera, Photographs

421755

0.64 metres of textual material (4 boxes)

Lillian Roxon (1932-1973), journalist and author, was born on 8 February 1932 at Savona, Italy, second of three children of Izydor Ropschitz, medical practitioner, and his wife Rosa, née Breitman. Settling in Brisbane in 1940, Izydor was registered as a medical practitioner on 14 November. Next month he changed his name to Isador Roxon. Lillian boarded at St Hilda's School, Southport, for three years before attending Brisbane State High School.

Lillian Roxon moved to Sydney and enrolled at the University of Sydney. She was drawn into 'the Push', a network of intellectuals and Bohemians whose libertarian philosophy towards sex and politics put it at odds with the restrictive social mores of the 1950s.

After working as a publicist for Anthony Hordern & Sons, a Sydney department store, Roxon broke into journalism in 1957 when hired by Donald Horne, editor of the magazine, Weekend. However she left Australia for the United States of America in 1959. At first she freelanced at Hollywood for Weekend, then joined the New York bureau of the Sydney Morning Herald in 1963. This position enabled her to cover the rebellious social, cultural and political movements that occurred in the 1960s.

At a 1966 press conference, Danny Fields, a publicist and rock band manager, was impressed by Roxon. He introduced her to Max's Kansas City, a New York nightclub at the forefront of the 1960s counter-culture. Its patrons included artists, singers and actors, such as Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, Jane Fonda, John Lennon and Janis Joplin.

Roxon became a central figure at Max's, where she held court among the stars and became a confidante to many influential people in the music business. In 1968 she set out to chronicle the rock scene and counter-culture in what was to be the world's first encyclopaedia of rock music. Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia was published in 1969.

The encyclopaedia made Roxon something of a celebrity. Her own portrait for it was taken by one of her famous friends, Linda Eastman, a photographer who later married (Sir) Paul McCartney. The book brought Roxon a regular column on rock music in the Sunday News (New York) and another column, 'The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Sex', in Mademoiselle magazine. When Germaine Greer published The Female Eunuch (London, 1970) she dedicated the book to Roxon, whose independence she admired.

While working for the Sydney Morning Herald and writing the encyclopaedia at nights and weekends, Roxon had developed asthma. The asthma attacks, and the weight she developed from the cortisone drugs prescribed for it, imposed severe strains on her. Early in August 1973 she died of a massive asthma attack.

Reference:
Milliken, Robert, 'Roxon, Lillian (1932–1973)', Australian Dictionary of Biography online, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/roxon-lillian-11577/text20665 (accessed 26 April 2012)

Research material including letters, newscuttings, ASIO files, obituaries, articles by Lillian Roxon, interviews, photographs etc.

BOX 1
Folder 1: Alassio 1930s
Material relating to the history of Lillian Roxon's family and their years in Italy and England, including letters, family tree information, photocopies of material about Polish and Italian history, newspaper cuttings, map of Alassio, etc., ca. 1998-2000

Folder 2: Brisbane 1940s
Material relating to the Roxon family in Queensland and to Lillian Roxon's schooling, including photocopy of file and records on Dr Izydor Roxon-Ropschitz; photocopies of details relating to Lillian Roxon's schooling; photocopies of articles about Jewish people living in Australia; Milliken's handwritten notes; colour photographs of the house and area where Lillian Roxon and her family lived, etc., ca. 1999-2002

Folder 3: Sydney 1950s
Material relating to Roxon's life in Sydney in the 1950s, including images of the house she lived in in Jamieson Street; photocopies of Roxon's account about her unpublished novel; photocopies of maps; notes on Sydney University; newspaper cuttings; Milliken's handwritten notes, etc., ca. 1999-2002

Folder 4: Sydney 1950s
Material about Zell Rabin, who met Lillian Roxon in the early 1950s and was a close friend until his death in 1966; includes photocopies of documents about Zell and the Rabin family; photocopies of Semper Floreat (from the University of Queensland Union) from when it was edited by John Quinlem and co-edited by Zell Rabin and David Malouf; transcript of an interview with David Malouf; Milliken's notes, etc., ca. 1999-2000

Folder 5: Sydney 1950s
Lillian Roxon's transition from Sydney University to journalism in Sydney and New York; includes newspaper clippings, photocopy of interview with Lillian Roxon (1971), correspondence relating to requests for release of 1950s ASIO security files on Roxon and Darcy Waters, photocopies of Roxon articles, copies of material in Roxon papers, Milliken's notes, etc., ca. 2000-2001

BOX 2
Folder 1: New York 1960s
Articles and copies of articles by Lillian Roxon; copies of correspondence, including photocopy of letter in Nation (1971) by Roxon regarding Germaine Greer; Milliken's notes, etc., 1971-2002

Folder 2: New York 1960s
Photocopies from Roxon papers of letters, mostly to her mother Rose, 1960-1965, but also some regarding her mother's death, and letters to Donald Horne

Folder 3: New York 1960s
Material relating to Zell Rabin including photocopies of papers and articles, copies of clippings relating to his death, copies of correspondence, and Milliken's notes, ca. 1999-2001

Folder 4: New York 1960s
Mainly photocopied material, 1966-1968, regarding Roxon's involvement in the rock scene, her thoughts on people and groups including Andy Warhol, the Doors, and the Byrds, and her friendship with Linda Eastman (McCartney), and its break up

With one voice: a history of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies / Suzanne D. Rutland and Sophie Caplan; Australian Jewish Historical Society: Darlington, 1998

The push: an impressionist memoir / Judy Ogilvie; Paul Brennan: Leichhardt, 1995

BOX 3
Folder 1: New York 1960s
Material relating to Roxon's work in New York, 1968-1970, including articles by Roxon for the New York Times, photocopy of contract for Encyclopedia of Rock, copies of articles on popular music, photocopies of letters from Roxon to Danny Goldberg, etc., 1972-2001

Folder 2: New York 1960s
Material relating to Roxon's relationship with Germaine Greer, including letter from Greer to Milliken, transcript of interview with Greer, and photocopies of articles and press clippings regarding Greer; also includes a copy of Oz (July/August 1972), and notes by Milliken, etc., ca. 1972-1999

Folder 3: New York 1960s
Photocopies and press clippings relating to the Australian rock group 'The Easybeats' and their tour of America, 1966-1967

Folder 4: New York 1960s
Material relating to Roxon's last years in New York, 1969-1973, including extracts of letters to Richard Neville and Louise Ferrier, photocopy of letter from Dr Julian Lee about Roxon's asthma, photocopies of letters, articles, and press clippings relating to Roxon, her asthma and her death, 1999-2002

Folder 5: Obituaries
Press clippings and photocopies of obituaries for Lillian Roxon, including articles in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Sun-Herald, Sunday Telegraph, Village Voice, and Woman's Day

Folder 6: Top of Pops
Photocopies of Roxon's 'Top of Pops' columns, from the Sunday News (New York), May 1971-August 1973

Folder 7
Photocopies of Roxon's articles for 'The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Sex' column, Mademoiselle magazine, March 1972-November 1973; article 'I am Woman' in POL, volume 5, number 5

Folder 8
Photocopies of articles written by Roxon (ca. 1963-1972), mostly about popular culture in the United States, for Fairfax publications in Australia

BOX 4
Folder 1
Newspaper clippings about the 1960s (people, popular music, culture, etc.), and individuals referred to or contributing to Milliken's biograhy, 1996-2000

Folder 2
Transcripts, mostly typed, of interviews conducted by Milliken with friends, colleagues, and contemporaries of Lillian Roxon, 1998-2002

Folder 3
Black and white photographs of Roxon, photocopies of newspaper photographs and articles, colour photograph of Roxon's apartment in New York, ca. 1971-1998

5 notebooks of Milliken containing original notes and shorthand record of interviews, chronological notes and Roxon's life, and general notes about the biography, 1998-2002

Lillian Roxon: Mother of Rock / Robert Milliken; Black Inc. : Melbourne, 2002

Copyright holder:: In copyright
Copyright holder:: Sally Roxon
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Information upgraded as part of the Manuscripts Unprocessed eRecords Project 2011-2012

A contents list for this collection is available from the Manuscripts Section.