Part-Timer Writes Paper Column

She started this feature 12 months ago after two years as Truth's "Tean-Beat" writer.

Where did the column name originate? She explained that she wanted the Christian name to be neither masculine or feminine. The nom-de-plume 'Searle Con-roy' was almost adopted but dropped at the last moment.

The "Sy" is from Sy Oliver, a top Negro jazz band leader of the nineteen-thirties. The "Carter"? From mere whimsy, she said.

Sy enjoys her job because she is given a free hand, but told Salient: "Subject matter is getting to be a bit of a worry.

"I started by writing about such things as clothes, shops and jobs. Now it's becoming more difficult to find fresh topics. I seem to have written on everything."

The column attracts correspondence. "Four or five letters an issue."

"I get quite a lot of letters from 'way-out' religious sects, and from people who seem to think I'm an employment agency, and can get them jobs," Sy said.

A full-timer last year, Sy now works in the Public Relations Department of the General Post Office. This year she's studying Sociology. Education and French reading knowledge part-time.

Sy is aiming at a B.A. or Diploma in Social Science. She hopes, eventually, to be a probation officer.—D.S.