Well, it’s official – there is definitely nothing ordinary about Zonta Club of Brisbane member Judith Anderson OAM.

We have known this for a while and over her 38 years in the club Judith has shown extraordinary leadership and commitment to the work of Zonta, as a member of the ZI International Board 2016-2018, the ZI International Nominating Committee 2018-2020, ZIF Endowment Fund Regional Representative 2016-2022 and District 22 Governor 2012-2014.

Now she has been officially deemed extraordinary by His Excellency Paul De Jersey, Governor of Queensland. In a letter to The Courier-Mail, he wrote: “A caution to the Editor: there is nothing “ordinary” about Judith Anderson, who was featured in the Ordinary People column for her new book Earning a Crust.

“She is one of the prized team of speech writers and volunteers at Government House. I read Judith’s book, Earning a Crust, with absolute intrigue. A fascinating tribute to the history of the town and its wonderful people - and Judith!”

And many others have read her book and thought the same. Judith started writing her book about the extraordinary people who lived in her hometown of Warwick in regional Queensland and, most importantly, those who worked in the baking trade. She has covered a century of characters in her book, which was sparked by a query from the owner of her father’s old Holden ute. He had tracked her down in his search for history and, in turn, sparked Judith’s own journey back in time to discover her own family history.

She learned much about people like her grandfather Martin Brown and her father Ralph Brown who ran Brown’s Bakery in Warwick. And rediscovered her childhood growing up in Warwick, noting “it made me look at my childhood in a whole new light”.

Judith launched her book on 19 June 2021 at the Warwick Art Gallery and since then she has been busy on the promotion trail – and perhaps learning a whole new set of puns! However, we are sure Judith has heard them all before, after all baking was her family’s bread and butter for years. Apologies Judith!