Famed Australian author Colleen McCullough, who wrote the bestseller The Thorn Birds died on Thursday at age 77. While she was a highly accomplished and among the most widely known Australian authors, a newspaper from her native country is being criticized for its obituary, which began with a note on her weight.
McCullough was a neurophysiological researcher at Yale, a fact that the New York Times put in its obituary before even mentioning her most famous work. But The Australian strangeley noted that she was “overweight.”
“Colleen McCullough, Australia’s best selling author, was a charmer,” the obituary begins. “Plain of feature, and certainly overweight, she was, nevertheless, a woman of wit and warmth.”
And while usually obituaries include fascinating quotes from the subject about their life, The Australian’s first quote from McCullough was, “I’ve never been into clothes or figure and the interesting thing is I never had any trouble attracting men.”
That sparked snarky Twitter comments with the hashtag #MyOzObituary, reports The Huffington Post.
Why was this obituary published when others celebrated her life? Crickey.com.au reports that the obituary was written a few years ago by an obituary writer who has also died. A source told the site that the obituary was not properly edited before it was published.