Leslie knew the consequences of dating a white man because she had done it in her adolescence, and her aunt had advised her not to consider a future with him.
“I remember the shock I felt once when I was dating a white boy,” Leslie told Ebony in 1967.
“He emailed me a color photograph of himself. It was shown to my aunt. He was a handsome young man with lovely hair. I thought he was stunning. But my aunt took one glance at me and began lecturing me. ‘Well, I suppose he’s okay,’ she said, ‘but only for dates, eh, honey? You’ll marry a fine [Black] fella when you’re ready to settle down for good, won’t you?’”
Leslie stated that she continued to visit Grahame after their fortuitous meeting.
“I found myself falling for him, which was quite surprising given that I was only 21.”
She wouldn’t see him again for 12 months after she left Australia.
