The Australian's Colleen McCullough obituary provokes social response through #MyOzObituary
An obituary written following the death of Australian author Colleen McCullough has provoked an online response after it described her in the introduction as “plain of feature and certainly overweight” and led to the creation of the social media trend #myozobituary.
The obituary for the Thorn Birds author who died on Wednesday, was published by the Australian and has been described as 'sexist'. It also led to the creation of the social media trend describing other famous male authors in less than polite terms.
@CatherineDeveny Obituary published in @australian. Their ethics have also died apparently?! #classy #journalismfail pic.twitter.com/t5Mw372OxD
— Naomi Fryers (@Fluro_Unicorn) January 30, 2015
Spoof obituaries have since been written for authors such as James Joyce, Roald Dahl, JRR Tolkien and even the very much alive publisher of the Australian, Rupert Murdoch.
I just popped into the future and came back with this. #myozobituary pic.twitter.com/M4i5PrIwr4
— Nicholas Pegg (@NicholasPegg) January 31, 2015
Certainly built like a praying mantis, she nevertheless attained a fringe level celebrity which was impossible to monetise. #myozobituary
— Fiona Scott-Norman (@FScottNorman) January 31, 2015
Other authors have released their own self-penned obituaries in an effort to mock the Australian, including Neil Gaiman and Jane Caro.
Short & dumpy with an extra chin, she nevertheless wrote books novels & articles & was occasionally allowed 2 appear on telly #myozobituary
— Jane Caro (@JaneCaro) January 30, 2015