AUGUST 2017AWW.COM.AU 55
benefit. The pair became friends just
afterThe Thorn Birdswas released
and Colleen came to do a book signing
at Graham’s bookstore in Sydney,
where Selwa then worked. “I was so
excited when I read it, I said, ‘I’ll take
500 copies’ – the sales rep nearly fell
over. We’d sold half by the time she
came in to sign the books. She had the
biggest laugh, threw the biggest dinner
parties and had the biggest heart, she
was so generous,” says Selwa.
“When my mother died, knowing
she loved red roses, Col rang every
florist she could find and ordered
every rose she could get her hands on
to decorate the church. There wasn’t
a red rose left in all of Sydney.”
News of the second will shocked the
University of Oklahoma, which believed
Colleen’s estate had been bequeathed
to it. Guy Patton, President of the
University of Oklahoma Foundation,
said it wanted to become involved in
the judicial process. “It is absolutely
our belief that we are beneficiaries of
Colleen’s estate. Colleen spoke often
of her affection for her relationship
with the university.”
In fact, Colleen had given to science
before. A portion of the royalties
from her 1998 book,Roden Cutler,
V.C.,were donated to the Prince of
Wales Medical Research Institute for
the Neurosciences.
Awritertotheend
It was her series,Masters of Rome,
which captured the University of
Oklahoma’s attention. The seven
volumes, described as a “huge, rich
and incredibly detailed” account of
the final days of the Roman Empire,
are still used in schools as reference
books, even though they’re technically
fiction. Colleen was awarded a Doctor
of Letters from Macquarie University
for her work and invited to join the
founding board of the political science
department at the University of
Oklahoma, where she became friends
with Henry Kissinger, George Bush Snr
and Newt Gingrich.
For many years, she regularly flew
to the US to attend university board
meetings, thriving in the world of
the political and academic glitterati,
but her first love was writing. She wrote
prolifically using an old-fashioned
typewriter, never a computer, until
macular degeneration cruelly robbed
her of her sight, after which she began
using voice recognition technology
and dictating her work.
Colleen’s final book,Bittersweet,
was published in 2014 and she was
three-quarters of the way through
a new manuscript when she died.
“She was a perfectionist,” says
Shona Martyn, “and although sick
towards the end, she never lost the
desire to write and was writing until
she died. It was exciting when the
signature box [she famously delivered
manuscripts in maroon boxes with
her name embossed in gold] landed
on my desk.
“Col was old school, she had class
and presence. When she came into the
office, everyone stopped in their tracks.
She was so well-loved and such a big
figure in publishing. There’ll never beanother Colleen McCullough – she
was one of a kind, a true character,
and no one will ever take her place.”
Renowned editor and publisher
Linda Funnell, who worked with
Colleen for 15 years, describes the
author’s arrival in the office as an
“event”, with staff craning over their
desks to catch a glimpse of her.
One morning Linda came into
work to find Colleen waiting. She
had decided to deliver a manuscript
in person. “I arrived to find her and
Selwa [Anthony] in my office,” she
says. “Col wore a leopard print wrap
and I closed the office door so she
could smoke. The office allowed a bit
of wriggle room on the no-smoking
rules after 6pm when most people
had left. However, this was Colleen
McCullough and you weren’t going
to say no to her at nine o’clock in the
morning, were you? Not when she
was delivering her manuscript!
“She was a demanding, straight-
talking, generous, hilarious woman.”
With the battle over her will now
set to become a public drama, maybe
the lady herself has had the last laugh,
plotting a must-watch final chapter
that will ensure the author is making
headlines all over again.
“The whole thing is very sad,”
says Linda, noting that Colleen, in
her essay,Life Without The Boring
Bits,acknowledged that her early
years were thinly disguised inThe
Thorn Birds. “But I don’t think we
can see historyrepeating,” says Linda,
smiling. “No priests involved as far
as I know!”AWWABOVE: The University of Oklahoma, where Colleen sat on the founding
board of the political science department, has made a claim to Colleen’s
estate. RIGHT: Colleen with her husband, Ric Robinson, in 2013. He says
that his late wife intended to leave her entire estate to him.