Paris, the City of Light, has been plunged into darkness, fear and grief by a series of terrorist attacks by gunmen and suicide bombers, which have left 129 dead and 352 injured – 99 critically. In the wake of the shocking news which gripped the world this morning, comes the realisation that it was naive […]
Terrorists take terrible human toll in Paris
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Pretty Pink makes perfect pad for Gurley Brown
The plush pink pad of renowned Cosmopolitan magazine editor, Helen Gurley Brown, who died three years ago, is up for grabs in New York. The American author, editor and businesswoman, who was 90 when she died in August 2012, had a fetish for pink. And she lavishly splashed 50 shades of pretty pink all over […]
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Wordsmith leaves legacy of years of wisdom
Farewell to former The Advertiser What’s Your Problem editor, Barbara Vivienne Ross, who died on October 18 in Adelaide, aged 82. Barbara was Adelaide’s local Dorothy Dix with all the answers to myriad questions presented to the What’s Your Problem column, which she edited for more than 20 years. When she retired in 1989, she […]
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Poverty to be eliminated by 2030
The pledge by world leaders to end poverty by 2030 is one of the good news stories of the latter half of 2015. The new UN agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets which apply to both developing and developed countries. Although the United Nations has set out an ambitious list of goals, its plan will […]
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Regular exercise can slash breast cancer risk
Hit the pavement running ladies, or hire that exercise bike to stave off breast cancer. According to a French study of postmenopausal women, regular recreational physical activity seems to have a rapid impact on breast cancer risk in women over 50. The research from the Institut Gustav Roussy in Villejuif involved data from 59,308 women […]
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Feisty Michelle wins big race and our hearts
If ever the Melbourne Cup, Australia’s great horse race, defined us as Australian, it was when the first woman jockey, Michelle Payne rode Prince of Penzance over the finish line at Flemington. It was a sensational ride to victory against all the odds ridden by a slip of a lady who even some of the […]
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Adelaidians can show solidarity with Paris
The Premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherall and Ambassador to France in Australia,Christophe Lecourtier, will be speaking at a public vigil to show support and solidarity for the victims of the attacks in Paris and to the people of France. The vigil will be held tomorrow night - Tuesday November 17 from 6pm to 7pm at […]
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Le premier mot…
Behind the lack of blogging on my website over the past year, I have had a secret project. I have been very busy completing a 100,000 word manuscript telling the story of how I have pulled myself back from the deepest pit of grief following my husband Olivier Foubert’s death to patch myself up […]
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Jockey Michelle beats racing discrimination
Is there a greater thrill in November than enjoying a girlie Melbourne Cup luncheon when trailblazer jockey Michelle Payne became the first woman to win at Flemington? And she was riding my Sweep pick – Prince of Penzance! It’s such a cracker of an Aussie story. And the Lyceum club crowd cheered when she publicly […]
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Tourists find Katmandu in recovery mode
My Sydney friend has taken her first post-retirement trip to Nepal to do her bit to boost the tourist industry in that impoverished country,which has suffered from massive earthquakes in May and June this year killing more than 8600 people and destroying more than 500,000 homes. Here is her first report. “Well, we are here in […]
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Harlequin publishers buy my memoir
The stars must be in alignment because March has brought astounding happenings to set my life on a new trajectory. Hoorah! I have sold my manuscript, Bon Voyage Mesdames, to Harlequin Publishers. Adding to the excitement, my agent, Selwa Anthony advised me of this splendid deal a few days after Writers Week here in Adelaide. […]
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Church covered up child sexual abuse
LETTERS: I have just finished reading the damning report into the negligence of the Anglican Church under the leadership of Dr Ian George towards protection of child sexual abuse victims. The entrenched practice of cover-up is truly shocking and a betrayal of the concept of Christian principles. Where protection of young children should have been […]
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A lovely life after profound loss
What a happy day! My new book, Farewell My French Love, my second memoir, arrived at my doorstep and my pride knew no bounds. Here is a photograph of my author’s copies. However, they will not be in bookshops until Monday, April 24. Harlequin non-fiction (HW Non Fiction), the publisher, has designed a wonderful front […]
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Eastertime in Melbourne is always fun
Melbourne is always a refreshing lifestyle change from Adelaide. Here I learn all about the city’s amazing public transport system of trains and trams. Train travel takes me between the two homes of two of my adult children and a bus will take me to the third child – a daughter in Williamstown. Altona Meadows […]
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A new memoir, a new medium with Bolinda.
It is quite a foreign environment for a print journalist, whose medium has always been the printed word published in a daily newspaper. Instead, today, for the first time, I sit at a table in a small soundproof room before a portable lectern hitched up with an oversized, highly sensitive microphone. Already, someone has placed […]
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A pictorial collection of our journey to France
What better way to illustrate the exciting journey I experienced with my friend Jane in France than to show a few photographs. No explanation needed for the first photograph…The Eiffel Tower, or in French Tour Eiffel. French chanteuse sings Hymn to Piaf in a 13th century cellar far below the streets of Paris on the 50th […]
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Tensions of the “Odd Couple” a highlight says Arts critic Samela Harris
There is really only so much I can say about my own book, Farewell My French Love, released today into all good bookshops Australia-wide. So, I have called on a former colleague, arts critic and blogger extraordinaire, Samela Harris to read my book and write a review without fear of favour. And it is interesting how […]
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Let’s talk about grief and loss and love
Am over the moon that Australia’s national paper, The Australian, ran a review on my memoir Farewell My French Love last weekend. Published by Harlequin’s new arm HQ non-fiction, it was one of four reviews under the heading “Intrepid Women of the World.” I was one of those four women. And it swelled my pride […]
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Accolade in OZ review for FMFL memoir
Am over the moon that Australia’s national paper, The Australian, ran a review on my memoir Farewell My French Love last weekend. Published by Harlequin’s new arm HQ non-fiction, it was one of four reviews under the heading “Intrepid Women of the World.” I was one of those four women. And it […]
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A Giant Leap into the New Media
Delighted to share this YouTube video teaser which captures the funny side of my bitter/sweet memoir Farewell My French Love – how my travels through France with my Sydney friend Jane revealed profound differences over glorious French food. So proud of my grandson Samuel who filmed our “discussion” over a glass of wine in Chez […]
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