The early years

Born in England in 1954, I graduated (as Jane Teresa Newton) from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1975 with an Honours degree in Zoology, specialising in developmental biology. After a brief post graduate affair with neurophysiological research at London’s National Institute for Medical Research, I abandoned my PhD studies, along with several one-eyed experimental goldfish, and returned to Scotland. I wanted to work in a more personally meaningful way to communicate complex scientific ideas to the general public. In my wiser years, I am able to look back and smile at the symbolism that was lost on me at the time. The one eyed goldfish (if you’re squeamish or hold anti-vivisection views, please don’t ask!) symbolised the one-eyed perception of the research world I experienced back then.

I spent two years at Glasgow University’s Hunterian Museum as a Writer & Producer of travelling exhibitions. I learned writing and media skills on the job and was given a free hand in deciding on the subject material I wanted to put on the road. One exhibition, titled ‘Mermaids, Myths and Monsters’, gave me a taste of things to come when a scientist sets out to pit science alongside mythology and to offer alternative perceptions of the same world.

The eighties: Travelling south

The next decade took in a mix of communication/science jobs and businesses including time off to live in Nigeria and Ecuador after the birth of my daughter, Rowan Gray, in 1981, quickly followed by my son, Euan Gray, in 1982. By 1984, we had moved to Australia, where my work began to settle in the direction of writing.

The nineties: Faith & frugality

By 1991 we had become Australian citizens, and Australia was truly home. A colleague later pointed out that, as an English Winter Solstice child born on the longest of dark winter nights, I had travelled across the world to celebrate my birthdays on the longest of hot summer days. Symbolically, she offered, I was transforming the long darkness of the unconscious into the bright summer light. Symbolism permits the poetry of free expression, but science has its application too, so ...

The dream research work began:

In 1992 I decided to move full time into self-funded dream research, an exercise in faith and frugal living that has been meaningfully fruitful and personally rewarding.

The nineties: The credits

Book Releases, 1990s:

"Sleep On It & change your life"

Published 1994
Harper Collins

Later translated into Swedish.

"Dream It: Do It!"

Published 1995
Harper Collins

Later translated into Chinese.

"The Shape of Things to Come"

Published 1998
Random House

Radio (as regular guest), 1990s:

Dream Talkback Analyst for:

ABC radio 612 Brisbane
(Afternoons & Evenings: Paul Lineham)
1992-1995

ABC radio 702 Sydney & NSW
(Evenings: Lisa Forrest)
1995

ABC radio 612 Brisbane
(Afternoons "Reality Matters" with Chris Welsh)
1996

ABC radio 612 Brisbane
(Afternoons: Carolyn Tucker)
1998

Television, 1990s:

Various national and local television appearances.

Hosted local tv chat show during 1997.

Website launched, 1998:

Dream Network, as this website was originally known, was launched on 1st May 1998.

New-look website launched, October 1999:

Popularity 'broke' the original website, and web developers, Xession, created a new look that launched us - with great stability - into the new century. By 2000, I had learned the basic art of html, and took on the ongoing development for years to come.

2000 onwards

2000

Radio (as regular guest), 2000:

Dream Talkback Analyst for:

ABC radio 3LO Melbourne

ABC radio 2CN Canberra

Radio 4BC Brisbane
(Summer season: Glenn Taylor)

2001

Radio (as regular guest), 2001:

Dream Talkback Analyst for:

ABC radio 2CN Canberra
(Afternoons)

Dream Sights Expanded, 2001:

2002

Radio (as regular guest), 2002:

Dream Talkback Analyst for:

ABC radio 2CN Canberra
(Until June 2002)

ABC radio 612 Brisbane
(Afternoons: Spencer Howson)

Talk 1116 Radio 3AK Melbourne
(Nights: Leigh Drew)

2003

Radio (as regular guest), 2003:

Dream Talkback Analyst for:

ABC radio 612 Brisbane
(Afternoons: Spencer Howson)

ABC radio 105.7 Darwin
(Late Mornings: Annie Gastin)

ABC radio 936 Hobart
(Evenings: Peter Hughes)

Talk 1116 Radio 3AK - (til September 2003)
(Melbourne, Afternoons: Yvonne Adele/ Annette Allison)

Talk 1116 Radio 3AK - (til September 2003)
(Melbourne, Midnight til Dawn: Leigh Drew)

Radio 3AW, 2UE & 4BC - (Summer Season)
(Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane, Dr Feelgood Show: Sally Cockburn)

Book Release, 2003:

2004 - 2005

Television, national (as regular guest), 2004:

March 2003 to May 2004: Appeared monthly as a regular guest on Bert Newton's Good Morning Australia Show (Channel Ten, National TV), talking dreams and analysing guests' dreams.

Radio (as regular guest), 2004:

2006 - 2007

Radio (as regular guest), 2006 - 2007:

2008