The Australian Women's Weekly July 2017

When Tony Jones, host of the ABC’s Q&A program, asked a woman in the studio audience in April if she agreed with her husband’s stance on euthanasia, he got a little more than he bargained for. I’m sure Tony’s question was well intentioned – after all, it had been Ron Fellows who had done all the talking about his and his wife’s pact to end their lives together – and Tony was right to insist the well-groomed woman at Ron’s side speak for herself. As it turns out, speaking for herself is not something Patricia Fellows has a problem with. This was no browbeaten spouse. She set the record straight in no uncertain terms, using a word rarely heard on the national broadcaster, and in the process earned herself a…

Letter of the month We adopted our youngest son, Lee, from Vietnam and he came out on the airlift (The Children Of War, AWW, June). Lee was a tiny baby, arriving in South Australia a very scrawny 2.2kg. He was adored by his brother and sister, and his extended family. We always kept a special book of pictures and events about Vietnam, which Lee was always so proud to take for show and tell at school. Lee is now married, a respected doctor working in Toowoomba, and shows this book to his two children, who love to hear stories about their daddy as a baby. J. Trigg, Moonta, SA. Fashion over 40 Thank you for using a mature-aged woman in your Top Coats fashion spread in the June issue. I’m…

ROYAL WATCH Prince William turns 35 on June 21 and like his wife, Kate, who celebrated her 35th birthday in January, His Royal Highness is expected to spend the day with close family and friends. “I could not do my job without the stability of the family,” he says. “I want to bring up my children in a happy, stable, secure world and that is so important to both of us as parents.” The Prince has continued to speak out this month for Heads Together, the royal campaign for mental health awareness. He was interviewed by mental health campaigner Alastair Campbell for British GQ magazine. Don’t miss ART FOR A GOODES CAUSE AFL great and Australian of the Year 2014 Adam Goodes has been immortalised in paint by artist Megan…

Aurora Australis Solar flare activity is supposed to be low at this time of year, so aurora chasers have been shocked and thrilled by the unusually strong celestial displays seen over Tasmania recently. Aurora Australis is the shimmering rainbow light that appears when charged particles carried by solar wind hit our upper atmosphere. Photographer James Garlick took these stunning shots at Clifton Beach.…

It doesn’t matter how many times you might have discussed it, or how long you might have wished it to be true – becoming pregnant is always tinged with surprise and excitement, and perhaps even a little shock. For Turia Pitt, the young woman who survived devastating burns to 64 per cent of her body, that element of shock came just over three months ago, as she was preparing for a demanding three-week hike to base camp on Mt Everest in Nepal. “We had all these commitments, things we just had to do, places we had to be,” says Turia, 29, who suffered horrific burns during a fierce bushfire while running an ultra-marathon in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in 2011. “So, it wasn’t something that we were expecting.…

The vision board Jesinta Franklin made a decade ago would spook even the most hard-core sceptic. As a 15-year-old, Jesinta imagined her dream life and put it all on a pink poster she looked at every day for inspiration. She pasted on pictures of former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins and headlines like “Getaway star”; she listed goals such as “Buy a house” and “Learn how to dance properly”. In her teenage handwriting, she vowed, “I will be signed as the face of David Jones” and coached herself with the words, “Nothing is impossible”. Showing me the poster, even Jesinta can’t quite believe it. “Is that not scary?” asks the 25-year-old. This, after all, is the woman who went on to win Miss Universe Australia in 2010 (and come second runner-up…