Colleen McCullough

[Reading lady]

I read The Thorn Birds which I thought was excellent and so was the movie. Then I read a couple more of hers and found them disappointing and stopped reading her.

[TammyO]

I have only read the Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough as well--I really enjoyed it. There hasn't been much excitement about anything else she has written, that I'm aware of. I will try reading her some of her work suggested on this thread to see if she is an author who I may enjoy reading more often.

[SarahLuvBooks32]

I have never heard of this author before! I will have to look her up!

[Gannon]

I write this post with a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat. My favourite author, Colleen McCullough passed away today at the age of 77. She was a brilliant, amazing, intelligent author, but more importantly these adjectives can be used to describe her as a person as well. I have never enjoyed reading more than when I was reading her Rome series of books and I don't think I ever will. Even in poor health she was always happy and upbeat, laughing that unique infectious laughter that all of us fans adored. I always wanted to meet her at a book signing.

Well Colleen, you can now rest your tired failing eyes, you can relax and lift your sore painful fingers from the old typewriter, sit back and have a nice cup of tea, and annoy God with that laugh of yours. I'm quite sure you have a million questions for him.

Rest in Peace Colleen, you will always be my favourite.

[TammyO]

Hi Gannon

Beautiful Farewell, Gannon... I look forward to reading many of her books that she's left for us to enjoy. This is indeed a very sad day. She will definitely be missed by many I am sure.

[Fran]

I write this post with a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat. My favourite author, Colleen McCullough passed away today at the age of 77. She was a brilliant, amazing, intelligent author, but more importantly these adjectives can be used to describe her as a person as well. I have never enjoyed reading more than when I was reading her Rome series of books and I don't think I ever will. Even in poor health she was always happy and upbeat, laughing that unique infectious laughter that all of us fans adored. I always wanted to meet her at a book signing.

Well Colleen, you can now rest your tired failing eyes, you can relax and lift your sore painful fingers from the old typewriter, sit back and have a nice cup of tea, and annoy God with that laugh of yours. I'm quite sure you have a million questions for him.

Rest in Peace Colleen, you will always be my favourite.

Oh Gannon, I am so upset to read that Colleen has left us RIP
I have no doubt God is in for some hard questions & possibly even a "right old earfull" once Colleen has settle in and done the comparison between Heaven and her beloved Norfolk Island and I don't doubt but Heaven will be found wanting!
She will be sorely missed by her legion of fans in Australia and across the world.

[gali]

I was sorry to read that Colleen passed away. May she rest in peace!

[Maud Fitch]

Colleen McCullough lived life with no regrets. Colleen McCullough, the internationally famous Australian author, died in hospital on her beloved Norfolk Island. She passed away on Thursday 29 January 2015 after a series of small strokes. She was 77 and had endured long term ill-health, suffering sight loss due to macular degeneration and restricted to a wheelchair, but never losing her throaty chuckle and sharp wit.

McCullough lived on Norfolk Island for most of the past 40 years and married Norfolk Islander Ric Robinson in 1983. Prior to that she worked as a neuroscientist in the United States before turning to writing full-time. The Thorn Birds, a romantic Australian saga published 1977, sold 30 million copies globally and is the highest-selling Australian book, aided by the popular 1983 TV mini-series.

Contained within her 25 book repertoire are novels, bios, Carmine Delmonico crime series and a heavily researched historical fiction series Masters Of Rome, set in Ancient Rome. It received world-wide acclaim from readers including Gannon and Newt Gingrich, former Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives, and was credited with renewing interest in ancient history.

In 2013, McCullough published her final book, the novel Bittersweet, about four sisters in 1920s New South Wales. The sequel was not completed prior to her death. There has been considerable backlash over her newspaper obituaries and I’m sure it would have given her a laugh. Vale Colleen, you were one of a kind, you will be truly missed.

[Gannon]

Oh Maud, you don't know how much it warms my heart to see a post from you. Where have you been? What have you been up to? What have you been reading? Will you be hanging around?

I am sad that Colleen has passed but at least she is no longer in any pain. I am thinking of going back and rereading the whole Rome series again.