Sun Shines Through

Paula Xiberras

Mary Oxley Griffiths says she loves Tasmania, calling it ‘a nice little place’ and specifically singling out cottages. Mary is the wife of Jeremey Oxley the SunnyBoys’ musician.

I’m talking to this dynamic partnership about their aptly titled dual biography ‘Here Comes the Sun’, aptly named not just because it is a reference to the SunnyBoys band but because its title heralds a metaphorical ‘sun’ that has arrived since the Mary and Jeremy met up and influenced each other’s lives.

But back to the beginning, when Jeremy was growing up as a sensational surfer who loved music and went on to form bands, culminating in the SunnyBoys before he encountered the condition of schizophrenia which saw him disappear from public life until he was thrown a rainbow in the form of nurse and extraordinary individual Mary.

Their coming together is made of fairytale stuff as Mary’s boys located Jeremy on the internet one evening remembering their mum had been a fan of the Sunnyboys, when she had watched them on Countdown when she was a teenager.

Between her teenage years and the present day Mary had become a nurse, married and had twin boys and lost a beloved husband to illness. Her twin boys were the catalyst of Mary meeting Jeremy. After locating Jeremy on the Internet Mary and the boys decided to go see Jeremy and from that point on a new world opened up for them all. Immediately clicking and connecting, Jeremy, Mary and the boys began building a life together as a family and saw the re-formation of the SunnyBoys in the late 80s and early 90s, this wonderful life story was picked up and made into a documentary by Kaye Harrison called ‘SunnyBoy’.

Something that Jeremy and Mary had in common was a love of art and both initially were art students which possibly attests to their sensitive and creative natures and as Mary says they give themselves permission to display these sensitive emotions even if they are unashamedly’ lovely dovey.’

Mary represents a pharmaceutical company and travels around the country speaking on mental health reform. Mary has done many of these talks in Victoria but would love to do some talks in Tasmania.

The name Oxley means ‘a clearing in a wood’ or ‘an enclosure’ and aptly, after years of being enclosed and away from his music, Jeremy and Mary have supported each other to find a path or a clearing through that wood!

‘Here Comes the Sun’ is out now published by Allen and Unwin.