Delmer from Ohio may be interested to know the new Premier of New South Wales grew up in the Buckeye State.
According to Wikipedia, Kristina Keneally was born Kristina Kerscher in the United States in 1969 to an American father and an Australian mother. She grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and was educated at the Notre Dame Academy. She later attended the University of Dayton, also in Ohio. She received her baccalaureate in 1991 and worked as an intern for the Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, Paul Leonard. In 1995 she graduated with a Masters Degree in Religious Studies.
A profile in The Australian in August adds that her grandmother was a Brisbane barmaid who married an American GI.
Keneally met her Australian husband at a Catholic World Youth Day in Poland. Ben Keneally is the nephew of author Thomas Keneally.
She has been in Australia for 15 years and in her maiden parliamentary speech quoted sources as diverse as Pope Leo XIII and Friedrich Engels.
It’s a remarkable achievement to become Premier of NSW, although she is the third person to hold the position in 15 months.
Having not watched television since the grand final in September, I haven’t heard her speak, but apparently she still has an American accent.
I find it a little disturbing that she is younger than me, probably the first state premier to be so.
Twitter: delmerw
says:
Very cool.
I spent a fair amount of time in the University of Dayton area when I was in my early 20s — it wasn’t too far from the little town I grew up in. Flannigan’s Pub was near UD and had ties to the Montgomery County Young Democrats … it’s not hard to imagine Ms. K might have visited there (assuming it was still around when she’d have been in Dayton … I *am* 9 years older than she).
Before he was Lt. Governor, Paul Leonard (a Democrat) was Mayor of Dayton. The local radio station used to run a promo in which the mayor said something like, “This is Paul Leonard, Dayton’s rockin’ mayor. When I’m in the mood for rock and roll I listen to WTUE.”
I think her accent must be some type of hybrid. She doesn’t really sound American too me. Although America has so many accents…maybe she has one I haven’t heard before.
Twitter: mgorey
says:
I read that she’s been getting voice coaching.
Reminds me of some Swiss people I met who went to Edinburgh to learn English and returned to Switzerland with Scottish accents.
Kristinas’ American father is actually of German/Lebanese ancestory from Argentina.