Dr Judith Buckrich was born in Budapest, Hungary and emigrated to Australia with her parents in 1958. She completed her PhD thesis on the life of the science-fiction writer George Turner at the University of Melbourne and is now an Honorary Research Fellow in that University’s Cultural Heritage Unit. Judith has written commissioned histories on the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind, Port Melbourne, St Kilda Road, Collins Street, and the Montefiore Homes, and is currently researching the history of Prahran Technical School for the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute, to be published as Design for living: a history of Prahran Tech in 2007. In 2005 she curated an exhibition ‘History: Community: Identity: Showcasing Melbourne’s Diversity’ for the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.