Enid Emily Moon

Enid Emily Moon (20 March 1990 - 10 October 1999) was an Australian proofreader and copy editor who worked in the Australian publishing industry for more than 50 years. She is also the author of Memoirs of a Galley Slave: a proof reader looks back (1991).[1]

Early life

Moon was born in Sydney and was the daughter of Ernest Gillman Moon and his wife Lillias Holte (née Phillips) Moon. When she was born the family was living behind her fathers dental offices on Macquarie Street, however, in her early life they relocated first to Roseville, and then Moss Vale in the Southern Highlands. Due to these moves Moon attending a number of schools and ultimately completed her schooling at the Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School in Darlinghurst.[1][2]

Moon would later recall of her early life that her father was a difficult man in that he was a disciplinarian and stated that her childhood was characterised by an 'atmosphere of tension'.[1][2]

Between 1918 and 1921 Moon studied education at the University of Sydney but she never intended to work in a classroom and, after graduation, she spent only one six week period as a temporary fill in.[1]

Career

After deciding not to work as a teacher, the area in which she had studied, Moon took a job as a proof reader at Building Ltd, a company which published numerous trade magazines. When she took this role she knew very little about the role, or the industry, and she learnt 'on the job'. She worked closely under Florence Taylor, who managed the company alongside her husband George Taylor, and who was also one of Australia's first female architects. Moon would describe her as a 'very commanding lady'.[1]

Later Moon changed roles and went to work, again as a proofreader, for Mosman Daily Ltd which published free newspapers. In this role she was the only woman employed and was also able to learn about printing processes. She lost this role in 1930 following a car accident which was likely caused by drunk driving, in which she broke multiple bones.[3][4] This was apparently only one of a series of similar incidents.[1]

Due to the Great Depression Moon struggled to find another role and was unemployed until 1932 when she took a role as a proofreader at Halstead Press, who were a subsidiary of Angus & Robertson, where she also assisted with fact-checking and ensuring that the work did not contain libel or censored content. Standards in this role were incredibly high and, for each work, only three errors were allowed.[1]

In this role she worked with a number of prominent Australian authors including; Frank Clune, Nino Culotta (the penname of John O'Grady), Eleanor Dark and Ion Idriess.[1]

In 1957 she was promoted to copyeditor and worked in this role until her retirement in March 1972. Her retirement was due in part to a decline within the company, as Australian printing moved offshore, which reduced demand for her work and, in retirement, she continued to take on freelance work until 1982.[1]

Personal life

Outside of work Moon was a 'bohemian' and she rebelled against conservative standards and was opposed to marriage stating that men were ‘all right to work with, be friends with and make love with,’ but that she 'could not bear one around me twenty-four hours a day’.[1][2]

She preferred instead to live alone.[1]

Later life and death

In later life Moon volunteered within her community and was a regular swimmer at Balmoral Beach.[1]

In 1991, at the age of 91, she published her memoirs Memoirs of a Galley Slave: a proof reader looks back in which she recorded working conditions and gender relations in the printing industry between 1922 and 1972.[1][5][6]

Another major work by Moon, which remained unpublished was her autobiography, talking primarily about her younger life, was Myself When Young (1975) which is held, amongst other papers, by the State Library of New South Wales.[2][7]

She died on 10 October 1999 at Lindfield.[1][8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rees, Yves, "Enid Emily Moon (1900–1999)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 12 June 2026
  2. 1 2 3 4 Moon, Enid (1975), Enid Moon, 'Myself when young' and 'Memoirs of a galley slave; fifty years of proof-reading', ca. 1975, retrieved 12 June 2026
  3. ↑ "Motor accidents". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 28, 759. New South Wales, Australia. 8 March 1930. p. 18. Retrieved 12 June 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "Motor Smash". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. New South Wales, Australia. 7 March 1930. p. 5 (DAILY and EVENING). Retrieved 12 June 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ Moon, Enid; Book Collectors' Society of Australia (1991), Memoirs of a galley slave : a proof-reader looks back, Book Collectors' Society of Australia, ISBN 978-0-646-04827-7
  6. ↑ Andrighetti, James (1 January 1989). "Labour Records in the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW". Labour History.
  7. ↑ "Enid Moon, 'Myself when young' and 'Memoirs of a galley slave; fifty years of proof-reading', ca. 1975 (MLMSS 3885)". State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  8. ↑ Knaggs, Doug (30 October 1999). "Enid Moon". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 46.
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