Paulette Flint

Paulette Sybil Flint (Fohrman; born 25 November 1953) is an Australian local historian and author. She is an independent history columnist for The Observer (Gladstone).

Early life and education
Paulette Sybil Fohrman was born in Gladstone, Queensland on 25 November 1953, to Frederick Allan Fohrman, a shop assistant, and Sybil Beatrice Fohrman Barker).

Flint graduated from Gladstone State High School in 1970, after which she received a state scholarship. She received a Diploma of Teaching from Kedron Park Teachers College in 1973. After spending time teaching, she earned a Bachelor of Education from Central Queensland University in 1993, followed by a Graduate Diploma in Local, Family and Applied History from the University of New England (UNE) in 2007.

Career
Flint began her career teaching at Gladstone Central State School and Hamilton Island State School (1986-1988). She later taught at Toolooa State High School in Gladstone, Benaraby State School, and Kin Kora State School in Gladstone. At the latter, she taught lower school and served as Key Teacher for the Year 2 Net.

In January 2007, she attended the Summer School for Teachers, which the Australian Government saw as a reward for high-achieving teachers with attendees receiving a bonus payment. In 2007, she was employed at Kin Kora State School as Special Education Teacher, and was promoted to Head of Special Education Services. She was employed in this position by Education Queensland from January 2013 until her retirement in 2015.

Community involvement
Flint joined the Genealogical Society Gladstone District Incorporated (then known as Genealogical Society of Queensland, Gladstone branch) early in 1992 and has held various management committee positions from 1992–present. She conducts regular Genealogical Workshops for the Genealogical Society, including an annual Beginners’ Workshop. She is a regular guest speaker on the history of the Gladstone Region, or on Genealogy. At the Gladstone City Library she has spoken on local history via “Words of Wisdom” in March 2016 and on Genealogy in May 2018. Flint, along with other Genealogical Society volunteers Judy Spencer and Jan Koivunen conducted a walk titled "Tales from Yesteryear" in the Gladstone Cemetery in November 2018.

Flint was employed as a Master Class Teacher for “Our Priceless Past” events at the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum from 2015-2019. For 21 years, this annual community event has involved students interviewing and writing the life stories of seniors over the age of 70, who have lived in the Gladstone area for over 30 years. The stories are printed in a collectors’ section of The Observer (Gladstone) and are displayed with photos and memorabilia from the seniors at the exhibition at the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum. In this role, Flint assists school students to interview the seniors and write articles for the exhibition.

Flint is regularly consulted when local history information is sought and was involved in research for some local mysteries, such as finding the descendants of Reverend John Campbell after his 100-year-old diary was discovered in a charity bin in Gladstone in 2012. Flint assisted in locating living relatives of one of the Australian soldiers who had left graffiti in the Naour tunnels on the Western Front. Gilles Prilaux, a French archaeologist was seeking this information for his book.

Writing
Commencing in 1994, Flint writes regular articles about the history of the Gladstone Region for the Observer (Gladstone) under the category of “Times Gone By”. These articles are also published by other newspapers in the News Corp Syndicate.

Personal life
Forhman married Raymond Flint, an electrician, in 1973. The couple had three children: Nicole (1979), Megan (1982), and Kate (1989).