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With the passing of Blanche d’Alpuget overnight, Australia has lost a true one-off. As a writer, she was at home in fiction as she was in non-fiction, working in each realm with a keen eye for every telling detail that opened up the humanity of her subject to her readers. Blanche’s novels were compelling works of verve and originality, and her biographies comprehensive and definitive – most famously those she wrote of Bob Hawke, who became her great love and ultimately her husband. It is so fitting that Blanche’s final message to us all is this: “Our highest calling and greatest achievement is love, the rule of life. Love one another.” Our hearts right now with her family and all who loved her. May Blanche d’Alpuget rest in peace.