Vale Jan Courtin, great friend of The Footy Almanac community
It is with great sadness I pass on the terrible news that our friend and colleague at the Footy Almanac Jan Courtin has died after a tragic accident at home last week.
It’s hard to believe that such a Force of Nature, a woman of immense energy and enthusiasm, who had many loves, is no longer with us. Jan knew what she loved and she knew what she wanted and she lived by that Ron Barassi dictum, “If it is to be, it’s up to me.”
I worked out that’s how she lived the very first time I met her – which was over the phone one Sunday afternoon. Jan rang to talk about her manuscript My lifelong love affair with the Swans which she wanted to get published and was looking at various options. That conversation went for at least an hour – and went far beyond ways of publishing a book, to her love of the Swans (and its origins), to her time living in the university suburb of St Lucia in Brisbane, to the pull to live in Old Sydney Town. I also suggested, towards the end of that chat, that if she ever decided to publish an article or two on the Footy Almanac she would win an appreciative audience immediately. She said she’d think about it.
Jan published 202 articles on the site and became a much-loved contributor especially among those who love the Swans and footy itself and what I like to call reader readers. Her words on cricket, including Sheffield Shield cricket, always hit the mark. And the way Queensland had seeped into her soul rang true for those of us who enjoy the same condition. She wrote beautifully on classical music, one memorable piece listening to Bach (I think, or was it Beethoven) while driving along the Hume Highway. She loved driving, and her little Swanz car. By then Marshall and Jan had returned to her spiritual home – Melbourne and especially South Melbourne.
Jan Courtin and the SWANZ-mobile at the spiritual home of the Swans, the old Lakeside Oval
Jan also contributed to the Swans website along with the Almanac squad of contributors, as fine a body of Swans writers as you will find: Tom Bally, Keiran Croker, Craig Dodson, Mathilde de Hauteclocque, and Joe Moore. Swans fans looked forward to these pieces every week – for a few years, until Covid got in the way.
We also got to know Jan even better as she came to events and lunches – one memorable one in Billy Brownless’s pub before a Geelong-Swans game. Funny, I can’t remember who won that game, but I do recall the people at the table, including those writers who had travelled from interstate. That was a great afternoon of lamb shanks and other winter fare lounging in the beams of the slanting sun through the western window at the Cremorne in Geelong.
Jan’s book was published. It was always going to be. She had that drive, that determination, to see things through to their conclusion; to be the energy. That Richard Colless was involved in its launch was no surprise.
It’s important for me to mention here that Jan was not merely a footy fanatic. Jan had insight – and she was a terrific writer. She was a fastidious editor and was mortified if something snuck through and was published on the site, however minor. She’d be on the phone in an instant!
We were better for having her involved, and Marshall too.
Jan Courtin had a strong sense of life and its realities, and she had a strong sense of footy. It is people like Jan Courtin who help us realise that, despite all the crap which comes with the commercial exploitation of the game, footy has meaning. As do other things – like other sport and the art she loved and curated.
For a few years I spoke with Jan on the phone from time to time, discussing many topics – a tradition, it seems, that was established in the first phone call. She reminded me of a Test batsman: someone who was determined to score runs herself, but always with the team in mind.
We’ll miss you Jan.
Our deepest sympathies go to Marshall and to Jan’s family and friends.
Read about Jan’s book HERE
A list (with links) of all of Jan’s articles can be found HERE. We’ll feature a few over the coming days.
Read Tony Courtin’s tribute HERE.
Family and friends will gather at a venue in Melbourne next week, to celebrate Jan’s life. We’ll bring you those details as soon as we can.
About John Harms
JTH is a writer, publisher, speaker, historian. He is founder and contributing editor of The Footy Almanac and footyalmanac.com.au. He has written columns and features for numerous publications. His books include Confessions of a Thirteenth Man, Memoirs of a Mug Punter, Loose Men Everywhere, Play On, The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story and Life As I Know It (with Michelle Payne). He can be contacted [email protected] He is married to Susan. They have three school-age kids - Theo, Anna, Evie. He might not be the worst putter in the world but he's in the worst four. His ambition was to lunch for Australia but it clashed with his other ambition - to shoot his age.
Terrific tribute John. What a shock. What a loss.
Very sad news. Lucky to have had the pleasure of meeting Jan and sharing our passion for the Swans over the years. A life well lived. RIP.
A fine tribute JTH.
Well said John.
Sad loss to the Almanack community.
Glen!
Wonderful words for a wonderful person. Thank you John for the fantastic tribute on behalf of Jan’s Almanac family.
Thank you, JTH.
Thinking of Jan’s enormous contribution.
Thank you, Jan.
Thanks John,
You (and Tony) have vindicated my procrastination. When I saw Jan’s death notice in last Saturday’s Age, I hoped to see something on the site, and I knew that there were people better qualified to produce the tribute than me. I’m grateful that we have the perfect partnership – a family member, Tony and you.
I love your metaphor of the test batsman. Jan was a fine writer, exemplary in her passionate loyalty for the Swans (Swanz?), and such a generous and great-hearted person. I’ve enjoyed the indulgence of re-reading her book, and I’m going to spend time working my way through her Almanac contributions. In a week when some very high profile national treasures have reached the end of the road, we’ve lost an Almanac treasure.
A touching tribute, JTH.
Vale, Jan Courtin. And thank you.
Always enjoyed a bit of fun-sparring between Jan and myself concerning her beloved Swans and my Bulldogs.
And it was fun. Even in 2016 when the Dogs beat the Swans she felt good for me just like I was rapt for her and the Swan supporters in 2005.The very-recently retired Josh Kennedy should have won the Norm Smith in 2016. The Swans are tracking nicely this year. Let’s hope they get the job done for Jan, their greatest supporter.
Thanks John,
A lovely tribute. I remember well that day when the Swans writers gathered at Billy’s Pub. Not sure which year it was now, though we did beat you down there a few years running. I can recall where we were in the pub and some of the conversations, but not the game in particular. It says something about the ability of footy, and sport in general to bring people together.
Jan’s passion always shone through in her writings, however she was just as engaging in person. I was delighted to meet up with her for a few games in Sydney and a few down here in Melbourne. She will be greatly missed.
Vale Jan …. cheer, cheer
So sorry to hear of Jan’s sudden passing. For many years my wife and I sat near Jan and Marshall at the SCG and enjoyed chatting about the Swans chances each game. We were privileged to attend her book launch and have since shared the book with others.
Our thoughts go to Marshall and other family members.
Vale Jan – Loved reading your passionate stories about the Bloods.
You have left a wonderful legacy.
My condolences to the Courtin family.
Thoughts are with you Jan and family. Loved her Swannies fan story.
All of the above. I enjoyed reading all of Jan’s contributions. I particularly resonated with her more recent trials and tribulations with Marshall. Very shocked and sad to learn of her passing. There has been a void since her last post that will now not be filled.
Thanks for sharing this JTH.
I always enjoyed Jan’s stories. These were representative of the best writing on this site for me in that they were about footy on an introductory level but really expressed her enthusiasms and fears as she made her passage through life. I found them instructive and aspirational and her deep sense of community shone through.
Well said JTH. She was indeed a force of nature. Not only a sad loss for her family, but a massive loss for the Almanac. I enjoyed talking to her at Almanac events, state cricket and via email. A fantastic and entertaining writer.
Vale Jan.
A terrible loss to the Almanac community, I also never met Jan in person but had the pleasure of editing and posting many of her pieces on her beloved Swans over the years. As others have mentioned, Jan had a fastidious eye for detail when it came to polishing her writing and I appreciated her replies in my inbox. I find I don’t get as many of them from writers these days, which makes the loss even more poignant.
Condolences to her loved ones. Vale Jan.
Dear John,
Thank you so much for your beautiful and inspiring words about Jan.
I am one of Jan’s 6 siblings. Jan’s tragic fall left her with a catastrophic brain injury and we turned off life support a couple of days later on August 6.
Tomorrow we will be celebrating Jans life in Albert Park just down from her beloved South Melbourne footy ground.
As well as footy Jan lived a life full of art, music, social justice and family.
We are heartbroken that she has left us. Jan was the eldest.
Love you Jan ,
Jude
Horrible news! You will be missed Jan.
Love to all those who loved you.
Shake down that thunder from the sky. xo