A good life at any age
20 October 2026 | Living Well
It was my birthday this month. While I attend more funerals than parties at this age, (77) I vowed to celebrate my birthday as a week long festa of lunches, events, excursions and frolicking. It was an action packed week; plays, lunches, exhibitions, new bars, family times, bookshops, coffee with friends, and then….the Crash…. this old body staggered back to the beach after a week of city living, soul tired, peopled out and needing solitude.
But in my hand was a gift I had chosen when a kind friend gave me a book voucher. It’s an art book about the paintings and life of an indigenous artist, Sally Gabori. I guess you’d call it a coffee table book. Big, heavy, impressive. But it’s not at all the type of book you flip through mindlessly. This book explodes with colour, energy, audacity and a life force that feels unstoppable. Along with images of her work, there are detailed explanations of her life, culture, language and influences which I found fascinating.
When did she start painting? At the age of 81! Yes that’s right. With no formal art training she started painting at the age of 81. Sally and her husband Pat Gabori were living in an aged care hostel on Mornington Island at the time. A talented weaver, she attended the Mornington Island Arts and Crafts Centre. It was here she was offered paints for the first time at a workshop in 2005. Over the next 10 years until her death in 2015 she produced over 2,000 paintings. Gabori represented Australia in the 55th Venice Biennale of 2013 and her works are held in the permanent collections of Musee du Quai Branly in Paris and many Australian galleries and private collections.
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“I’m writing s memoir” sounds so grand. It makes me squirm. I’m not Winston Churchill nor Jacinda Ardern. Perhaps I should use ” Life story” instead? I’ve reported before on the perils of undertaking such an epic task. It’s 3 years now that I’ve thrashed around in the dark ocean…
22 September 2026 | Life-Style
Yesterday, I lived like a 40-something. Scuttling puddles and robotic people, I made my way to Federation Square to attend a Conference called Living Cities, organized by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation. I was very excited to join the cool squad of architects, Futurists and urban designers exploring the future of…
26 August 2026 | Life-Style
After weeks by the beach I’m super calm, overly meditated and ready for some city energy. Transition is a funny thing and I quite like that small window where I arrive in Melbourne’s mayhem in my own little private bubble of quiet, distanced observation of the human race. Melbourne’s seasonal…
4 August 2026 | Life-Style
It was my birthday this month. While I attend more funerals than parties at this age, (77) I vowed to celebrate my birthday as a week long festa of lunches, events, excursions and frolicking. It was an action packed week; plays, lunches, exhibitions, new bars, family times, bookshops, coffee with…
20 October 2026 | Living Well
This article explores the topic of suicide by older adults and may be distressing to some readers. ” Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” Victor Hugo Three people I know have chosen to suicide in their later years. I’m not talking about Voluntary Assisted Dying…
26 August 2026 | Living Well
Had my brain just screamed chocolate today, it would have been a good day! But today my brain screamed chocolate, cake, ice-cream, wine, cashews, more wine, cheese and large helpings of everything! ” You need a treat. You’ve been eating so well, limiting alcohol and you’ve lost 4 kg. Great…
19 January 2026 | Living Well
Instagram ‘s a funny thing. As I scrolled and liked my way through the day’s posts I came across Retiring_Not_Shy and smiled. Clever. Funny. A woman who models my kind of clothes. Months pass and I post a shout-out for people to be interviewed for my book 50 Faces: 50…
16 August 2021 | 50 Faces 50 Lives
This week I met a remarkable man. Let me set the scene. It’s my first interview in over a year for my Ageing Well book. For the past year a Covid world made meeting people a risky business. So today I’m as excited as a kid at Christmas as I…
26 March 2021 | 50 Faces 50 Lives
I published this article after an interview with Petrus Spronk in November 2019..it seems like light years ago! It was one of the highlights of the research for my book and I’ll never forget encountering the creative mind in all its purity and the outstanding talent of this great artist….
19 February 2021 | 50 Faces 50 Lives