Elizabeth (Jackie) Jacqueline Holliday Steincamp, neé Richards (1927-2024)
The late Jacqueline (Jackie) Steincamp was a well-known and highly respected magazine columnist, feature writer, newspaper reporter, copywriter, editor and also the author of two books – one of which was about Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.).
She was widely published in health, environmental and feminist issues – writing for magazines such as Broadsheet, Eve, Designscape, the Listener, More, Soil and Health, and Thursday; and for newspapers such as The Press. She also wrote on various medical topics for GP Weekly and New Zealand GP – including a number of articles about M.E. (Steincamp, 1993; 1995a; 1995b; 2000).
M.E. Mystery Epidemic article for the NZ Listener
In 1983 Jackie Steincamp went to the small West Otago town of Tapanui, where she interviewed 14 M.E. patients and their families. She also interviewed an unknown number of academics, medical professionals and public health officials around the country before publishing her landmark article in the New Zealand Listener on 19th May 1984, entitled “M.E. Mystery Epidemic” (Steincamp, 1984).
This article in the Listener was likely the first to break the news that significant numbers of new M.E. cases had started appearing all around the country – strongly implying that the viral outbreaks previously thought to be localised around the Tapanui area had progressed into a nationwide epidemic.
“Going to Tapanui to write an article about the Tapanui flu … changed my life.”
– Jacqueline Steincamp (interview with NZine, 1998)
In an interview with the free online publication NZine (Dorothy, 1998), Jackie discussed the significant impact that researching and writing the Listener article had on her own life. The following is an excerpt from the NZine article:
Listener article about Tapanui flu – M.E. (C.F.S.)
M.E. (C.F.S.) is said to change the lives of those who suffer from it. It can also change the lives of those who write about it, according to Jackie. “Going to Tapanui to write an article about the Tapanui flu for the Listener changed my life,” she says.
It all started in 1983 when she was writing for the New Zealand Listener and was sent to Tapanui in North Otago to research what was then called Tapanui flu. Previously she had refused to touch health issues. She was writing regularly for the Listener, Thursday, Eve, and Designscape. She had excellent health herself and was not remotely interested in being a health researcher or journalist.
However, in Tapanui Jackie found so many ill people with such weird symptoms and such peculiar aspects to their illness that it totally caught her imagination and aroused her curiosity. At that stage Tapanui flu was being called ‘mass hysteria’ by the medical establishment. Jackie saw adults and children who were so grievously affected that she became determined in her own mind that there was a lot more to it than that.
…. [The Listener article] covered the symptoms and the suffering of individuals, and the possibility that a virus might be responsible. It was a valuable resource for all those concerned about the problem and many copies were requested from The Listener.
Jackie undertakes further research.
Jackie left Tapanui with a profound feeling of disquiet and apprehension about what had been happening to those people who had previously been healthy. She had a strong feeling that what was happening there could be relevant to all of us.
She joined the Canterbury Medical Library, where at that time membership was available free to individual researchers and journalists, and started to research M.E. She also used information from the Open Forum for Health Information Association and from M.E. groups around the world. Her New Zealand publisher, Christine Cole Catley, herself a sufferer, also provided valuable material, as did Professor Dr Campbell Murdoch of Otago Medical School.
– Excerpt from an Nzine interview with Jackie Steincamp (1998)
Author of the first comprehensive book on M.E.
As a result of her extensive research into M.E., Jackie Steincamp published a book called “Overload : Beating M.E. : the chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome” (Steincamp, 1988). The publishing company, Cape Cately, described this as “The first comprehensive and detailed book on the subject …” (Cape Cately, 1988).
The book was launched by the Hon. Peter Dunne, Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Health, at a special function on Tuesday 6th September 1988, which was hosted at the Beehive – the seat of New Zealand’s parliament.
The book’s launch was timed to coincide with a special “M.E. Awareness Week” in September 1988, that had been organised by the New Zealand Department of Health. The Department’s week of public awareness-raising and medical education activities was also supported by the Roy McKenzie Foundation, which provided funding assistance for a number of the activities involved with M.E. Awareness Week, including covering Jackie’s airfares to attend the official book launch in Wellington.
The launch of Jackie’s book, Overload, was therefore part of a concerted collaborative effort involving the Department of Health, the Roy McKenzie Foundation, sympathetic academics, patient organisations and support groups, Cape Cately publishers, and the Parliamentary UnderSecretary (associate minister) of Health, in order to raise public awareness about Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and ensure that M.E. patients received appropriate diagnosis and care from the medical profession.
The book’s official launch at the Beehive attracted considerable positive publicity, both for M.E. Awareness Week and for the book itself.
Voluntary M.E. advocacy work
Jackie Steincamp was a highly intelligent and articulate person, who became a staunch advocate for people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
For example, in 1986 she wrote to the Minister of Health, Dr Michael Bassett, to protest a decision by the New Zealand Medical Research Council not to fund a detailed research proposal that had been submitted by Professor Campbell Murdoch. Jackie’s powerful letter (Steincamp, 1986) did not mince words:
Dear Dr Bassett,
I am absolutely appalled by the decision of the Medical Research Council against funding for research into myalgic encephalomyelitis.
While I do understand that Professor Murdoch’s application did not cover the possible range of research that might have been carried out, and he has not yet enlisted the support of certain key people, I consider that any research is better than none into this very serious condition.
As a journalist interested in health topics, I have met so many people who have been devasted by ME (or some unknown condition like it), have met so many who have been misunderstood or written off by their doctors, that I believe that more understanding is imperative.
For that understanding to be disseminated among the medical profession, I think it is vital that research be carried out here. There may also be specific conditions pertaining to New Zealand which need examination.
I urge you to use all your influence to ensure that Professor Murdoch receives all the financial assistance needed.
Yours sincerely
Jacqueline Steincamp
Jackie later went on to volunteer a considerable amount of her time to M.E. advocacy work, including as the chairperson of M.E./C.F.S Group (Canterbury) Inc., which is now known as ME CFS Canterbury.
In memorium
Jackie Steincamp passed away peacefully at Archer Village Rest Home in Christchurch, on 10th January 2024, at the grand age of 96 (Jacqueline Steincamp Obituary, 2024). She is survived by her son, Hugo Steincamp, who has generously given permission for The Tapanui Blog to republish the selected works by Jackie Steincamp that appear on this site.
The immense efforts Jackie put in – raising a substantial amount of awareness, advocating for appropriate research funding and medical care, and writing a book to guide M.E. sufferers towards recovery or more effective symptom management – was hugely appreciated by people with M.E. across the country. It was wonderful to have a healthy ally who was articulate, competent, capable, pro-active, highly respected and well-connected, who could therefore advocate so effectively on our behalf.
Source: Facebook profile photo for Jackie Steincamp.
References:
Cape Cately (1988). Press release from Cape Catley, emargoed until Monday September 5, 1988. Primary Healthcare – Myalgic Encephalomyelitis 1987-1992, Archives reference number ABQU W4452 632 Box 1842 R16664130, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington.
Dorothy. (1998). Self Help for Sufferers from ME An Interview with Jackie Steincamp. NZine. [NZine Archived]
Jacqueline Steincamp Obituary, The Press. [Obituary] [Archived]
Steincamp, J. (1984). M.E. Mystery Epidemic. New Zealand Listener, 107(2310), 21–24.
Steincamp, J. (1986, January 7). Letter to Dr Michael Bassett, Minister of Health. Diseases – Myalgic Encephalomylitis 1985-1986, Archives reference no. ABQU W4452 632 Box 751 R16653812, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington.
Steincamp, J. (1988). Overload : Beating M.E. : the chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome. Brick Row Publishing/Cape Catley.
Steincamp, J. (1993). Far-reaching effects of impeded capillary flow. GP Weekly, 10 Feb, 11.
Steincamp, J. (1995a). More Pieces in the ME Puzzle. GP Weekly, 8 March, 13-14.
Steincamp, J. (1995b). Nutritional deficiencies and viral violence. GP Weekly, 27 Sep, 12.
Steincamp, J. (2000). New hope for the ME generation. New Zealand GP, 22 Mar, 22–23.
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