#foxypedia

[foxspirit1928]

Mourning the loss of Miss Kerry Greenwood, who passed away on 26-Mar-2025 at age 70 after an illness. Thank you for creating the iconic Phryne Fisher who inspires millions of women and girls to be strong, independent, and adventurous. You are dearly loved and will be in our hearts forever.

(Posted 07-Apr-2025)

[foxspirit1928]

Miss Fisher Snippets (284)

It was no secret that Dot was not enthusiastic about Phryne’s driving, but to be fair, very few was. Judging by her next sentence – “But all it really gives me is a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach” – she likely never took the lesson. Jane was too young when she went to the continent to further her education, but I wonder she was brave enough to have Phryne as her driving teacher when she reached the driving age.

Anyhow, women obviously were legally allowed to drive in Australia by 1928, but did you know that the first woman in Australia to drive a motor car was Mrs. Florence Thomson, wife of a dentist in Adelaide? According to a newspaper clip from August 17, 1929, Mrs. Thomson said that she taught herself to drive in 1902 because there was no one to teach her. She would jack up the car in the motor shed and wrestle with its mechanism. After gradually gaining confidence, she took the car out into the streets on Sundays when there was not much traffic. In 1904, she drove from Adelaide to Melbourne, a trip about 8 hours in modern days but taking her nearly a week to complete as the average mileage was 86 (miles?) a DAY! Later that year she became the first woman to drive from Adelaide to Sydney. Then she finished sixth in a Dunlop reliability road race from Sydney to Melbourne as the only women contestant with about 30 men.

On International Women’s Day, we solute Mrs. Thomson for being a pioneer. To quote Phryne from S2E07 Blood at the Wheel, “Lady drivers of the free world thank you”!

(Posted 08-Mar-2026)

[foxspirit1928]

Miss Fisher Snippets (247)

Today, June 17, is Kerry Greenwood’s birthday. She would have been 71 years young. Happy heavenly birthday, Miss Greenwood. We can never thank you enough for gifting the world Phryne Fisher.

********************

p.s. For those who haven’t heard, Kerry Greenwood passed away on March 26, 2025, after an illness.

(Posted 17-Jun-2025)

[foxspirit1928]

Miss Fisher Snippets (291)

Phryne makes parenting seem effortless, and Jane is delightfully astute, so it all works out at the end that no one gets kicked out of school. (Although those two mean girls should have been, at least getting suspended along with Jane). Real life scenarios, though, tend to be messier. On Mother’s Day, I take my hat off to all mothers and guardians who do their best to love, care, and guide their children/wards – without the TV scripts to help them maneuver complications.

(Posted 10-May-2026)

[foxspirit1928]

Miss Fisher Snippets (280)

The brilliant Mr. Butler never ceased to amaze. One minute he was supplying Bert and Cec weapons like Mauser broom handle semi-automatic pistol and MP18 submachine gun, and the next minute he was boiling up water and getting scissors sterilized to help Aunt Prudence deliver Mary’s baby. Was there anything this man didn’t know or couldn’t do?

(Posted 08-Feb-2026)

[foxspirit1928]

Miss Fisher Snippets (289)

As a policeman, Jack probably didn’t often have the luxury of heading to bed at nine with a glass of hot milk and a good book. When he did, though, Zane Grey seemed to be a fitting choice with themes like adventures in the wilderness, moral heroism, code of chivalry, etc. Although published in the United States as early as 1903, there’s no clear record when his books first became available in Australia, but according to Google AI they were extremely popular Down Under during the 1920s.

In contrast, DH Lawrence’s most famous book “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” was banned in Australia from 1928 until 1965. Of course, it didn’t stop Phryne from reading it in public, like on the Ballarat Train on her way to pick up the Hispano Suiza. Jack was not wrong about her choice of reading material, but it didn’t paint a full picture. Apart from DH Lawrence and “Erotica of the Far East” (as shown to Hugh in S1E6 Ruddy Gore), she was rather widely read. As described by Miss Kerry Greenwood in the book series, Phryne often borrowed books from the library to study the subject matter related to the cases she worked on. For example, in Book 4 Death at Victoria Dock, she read about Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, and the Revolution for hours to brush up on her knowledge of the historical background and current affairs. Also, whenever Jack quoted Shakespeare, she was able to get the reference without missing a beat. Brain and beauty, that’s our Phryne.

(Posted 11-Apr-2026)

[foxspirit1928]

Miss Fisher Snippets (283)

How we love the naughtiness of these two. Even though Jack was frustrated that their date night was thwarted by some mysterious “unexpected guest” that he perceived to be “far more enticing” to her, he still couldn’t help but being playful. Of all the vegetations he could have chosen from the basket next to the guillotine, this was what he came up with. Of course, she was totally in on the joke. Meanwhile, I wonder if Dot and Hugh were mortified by their explicitness or they had gotten used to it by now. Likely the latter.

(Posted 28-Feb-2026)

[foxspirit1928]

Miss Fisher Snippets (273)

Today (December 21, summer solstice in the southern hemisphere) is Phryne’s birthday. She is such a force of nature that Jack’s description of “freight train” (in S1E10 Death by Miss Adventure) suits her quite nicely, especially after she adds the fitting qualifier of “charming”. Happy birthday, Phryne! We are forever enchanted by your irresistible charm.

(Posted 21-Dec-2025)