The Australian Women's Weekly January 2023

As we put this issue to bed the end of another roller-coaster year is in sight, replaced by a 2023 that stretches before us full of promise and intrigue. One thing the last few years has taught me is that there is no way of knowing exactly what the future holds. And I’m okay with that. Because while we can’t predict the weather, world events or the various slings and arrows life may have in store for us, we can control how we feel about ourselves in the process. For me, that means channelling our cover girl, Emma Thompson, and her attitude of letting go, accepting who we are and caring less about what others think of us (although unlike Emma you won’t find me appearing naked on film any…

“You can get excited about the future. The past won’t mind.”– HILLARY DEPIANO Letter of the month I was delighted to see the photo of Jessica Rowe (Finding Peace, AWW, Christmas) in the most beautiful red dress. I’m 78 and for many years have read all the wonderful joy she brings to people. To my mind she is not only beautiful on the outside but inside as well. I also commend you on this wonderful Christmas edition, every page has interesting reading and with all those beautiful Christmas recipes, I just want to start cooking now. Rock icon I wish to commend you on your wonderful, touching article on rock icon Jimmy Barnes (Music Made with Love, AWW, Christmas). I loved the photos of the family around the piano. It’s…

Gone TOO SOON Farewell funny girl Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Kirstie Alley has died at 71 after a short, fierce battle with cancer. Versatile, feisty and funny, she’s remembered for her role as Rebecca Howe in Cheers, and for Veronica’s Closet. In Look Who’s Talking she played opposite John Travolta, who said theirs was “one of the most special relationships” of his life. Her son, True, and daughter Lillie Parker shared that her “zest and passion for life ... leave us inspired to live life to the fullest just as she did.” Women we love Songbird Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter Christine McVie died last month at 79. Mick Fleetwood said, “Part of my heart has flown away ... I will miss everything about you”. Doctor Spice Geri Halliwell-Horner (Ginger Spice)…

Almost one year ago, I bumped into a rather dishevelled but radiant Emma Thompson in the ladies restroom. We had both been in the audience at the London Palladium for a special performance by the singer, Adele. Emma – alongside her husband, actor Greg Wise – had been on her feet dancing up a storm throughout the two-hour performance with the sort of energy and wild abandon usually reserved for teenagers. But as she stopped to chat it was her rockstar outfit she wanted to draw attention to. “Look,” she said, laughing. “Leather pants! [Vegan leather, of course.] I’d never have worn them in my twenties but now I’m in my sixties I thought: ‘Who cares? Just go for it!’ I’ve had the time of my life.’” This is quintessential…

As I watch the courts of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Prince and Princess of Wales go head-to-head from opposite sides of the Atlantic, I can’t help but think of Harry’s cri de coeur in the first volume of his recently released TV documentary series Harry & Meghan: “How did we end up here?” The royal, no longer allowed to use his HRH for official work, looks bereft, head in hands, as well he might, for not only has Harry’s relationship with the family he was once so close to fallen apart, he and brother William are barely on speaking terms. With their non-profit company, Archewell, whose production arm was a partner in the documentary made by streaming network Netflix, Harry and Meghan seem to be setting…

When Suzanne Storrie got her start in surf lifesaving, back in the early ’90s, it was “quite blokey” … to say the least. The men put on a Christmas show on the roof of her local surf club to which women weren’t invited. It felt like a breakthrough when they asked Suzanne to do their make-up. “There were comments like, ‘You sheilas couldn’t organise a tea party.’ It could be quite confronting,” she tells The Weekly. “There were times when I had to say to myself, ‘I’m not going to let this get the better of me.’” Bear in mind that women had only been admitted to surf lifesaving clubs as full members in 1980 – 78 years after Aussie women got the vote – so the organisation was hardly…