Nearly 50 years apart, Sylvia Jeffreys and her grandmother Marty found an extraordinary connection through the pages of The Australian Women’s Weekly. But behind their shared love of journalism was another deeply personal detail involving decades of Marty’s private writing — and a decision Sylvia later admitted she wished had been different.
Sylvia Jeffreys has spent years building a familiar presence in Australian television, but the roots of her journalism career reach much further back than many viewers may realise.
Long before Sylvia entered a newsroom, her grandmother Elvee Joyce Jeffreys — affectionately known within the family as Marty — had carried the same love of words and a dream of becoming a journalist herself.
That career never unfolded in the way Marty had once imagined. Yet decades later, an unexpected connection through the pages of The Australian Women’s Weekly would bring grandmother and granddaughter remarkably close together.
And behind that connection was another deeply personal part of Marty’s story — one involving decades of private writing that Sylvia wished had been preserved.
Journalism Was Marty’s Dream First
Writing in a personal tribute to her grandmother for 9Honey, Sylvia recalled a woman who loved books, letters and language.
Marty read constantly and regularly exchanged handwritten letters with her sister Aimee, who lived interstate. Sylvia remembered watching her grandmother happily writing at the kitchen table and later credited those childhood experiences with helping shape her own relationship with words.
For Sylvia, Marty’s influence went far beyond family memories.
She wrote that her grandmother had played an important role in putting her on the path she eventually followed into journalism.
One Newspaper Job Ended Almost As Soon As It Began
Marty had once hoped to make journalism her profession.
After leaving the Air Force in 1946, she secured a job at a Melbourne newspaper. But on arriving for her first day, she discovered the publication was connected to the Communist Party.
According to Sylvia’s account, Marty decided it was not the place for her. By morning tea, she had left — and she never returned.
The opportunity may have disappeared, but her desire to write did not.
Marty Eventually Became a Published Writer
More than two decades later, Marty finally saw her work in print.
On December 11, 1968, The Australian Women’s Weekly published a story by Elvee Joyce Jeffreys about an adventurous family journey across Australia.
The trip had begun when Marty’s husband needed to relocate from Perth to Brisbane for work. Rather than simply following by air, Marty packed her three sons and the family cat into an HR Holden and drove across the country.
It became exactly the kind of story that suited a woman Sylvia remembered as adventurous, curious and always ready for a tale worth telling.
Nearly 50 Years Later, Sylvia Found Herself in the Same Magazine
Then came the connection Sylvia could never have planned.
Forty-nine years after Marty’s article appeared, Sylvia was featured on The Australian Women’s Weekly Christmas cover.
For Sylvia, appearing in the same publication her grandmother had once written for carried far more meaning than an ordinary magazine appearance.
She reflected on how strongly connected she felt to that moment in Marty’s life, knowing her grandmother had once held the same journalism dream and had remained a devoted reader of the magazine throughout her life.
It was an unlikely link between two generations: a grandmother whose hoped-for journalism career had never fully developed, and a granddaughter who would eventually make journalism her profession.
But Marty Made One Very Private Decision
There was another side to Marty’s love of writing that Sylvia remembered with more complicated emotions.
Before her passing, Marty asked Sylvia’s uncle to destroy her diaries, along with letters she had received from her sister Aimee over roughly six decades.
The sisters had been separated geographically after marriage but remained extremely close. They wrote to each other regularly, sharing the details of their lives across the distance.
Sylvia understood why her grandmother made the decision. Marty had always been intensely private and uncomfortable with attention, and Sylvia believed she would have wanted her most personal thoughts to remain that way.
Still, Sylvia admitted she wished those writings had not been lost.
The Words Sylvia Was Able to Keep Became Even More Precious
Not everything disappeared.
Sylvia kept birthday cards and letters from Marty, preserving them in a box in her study.
She described those surviving pieces of writing simply: “My Marty’s words were a gift.”
The line takes on greater meaning knowing just how central writing had been to Marty’s life — from the journalism career she once hoped to pursue, to decades of private correspondence, and finally to the published article that would connect her story with Sylvia’s almost half a century later.
A Dream Continued Across Two Generations
Marty never had the long journalism career she once imagined.
But her influence lived on in Sylvia, who went on to establish herself as a journalist and presenter with Nine. Sylvia has worked across programs including Today, Today Extra and 60 Minutes.
That makes their connection through The Australian Women’s Weekly especially poignant.
One woman saw her story published there in 1968 after a journalism dream that had largely remained unrealised. Nearly five decades later, her granddaughter appeared in those same pages after building the career Marty had once hoped to pursue.
And while much of Marty’s private writing was ultimately lost by her own choice, the influence behind those words remained — carried forward in Sylvia’s own path.
Source: Sylvia Jeffreys for 9Honey, “I’m following in my grandmother’s footsteps.”