Bronwyn Donaghy
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Bronwyn Donaghy (21 December 1948 – 23 July 2002) was an Australian author whose non-fiction work concerned
adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...
, particularly drug use among teenagers, teen sexuality and teen suicide. Her 1996 book, ''Anna's Story'', about the death of 15-year-old
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
teenager Anna Wood, became a national bestseller. The book sold over 100,000 copies and was reprinted in 2005. Her other works included ''Leaving Early'', about youth suicide, and ''Unzipped'', about sexuality among teenagers.


Early life

Donaghy was born in Newcastle, New South Wales. Her father worked as an
insurance agent Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
and the family moved often, spending large amounts of time in both Tamworth and Lismore. After her completion of high school, she trained as a journalist at Lismore's ''Northern Star'' newspaper and began her journalistic career.


Career

After Donaghy's work in Lismore, she joined
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
in the late 1960s to work as a researcher and reporter. She also presented Sunday Magazine and Young World. In the early 1970s, she travelled to England and began work in London, on trade publications. She returned to Sydney in 1973. After a hiatus from journalism to prioritise her family and raise her children, she began freelance writing, specialising in family issues. Donaghy's work appeared in '' The Sydney Morning Herald'', ''Australia's Parents'' magazine and ''New Woman''. Donaghy also wrote a long-standing column, under the pseudonym Frances Storm. In late 1995, Donaghy was approached by editor Jennie Orchard at HarperCollins to write a book about Anna Wood, who had died in October 1995. Wood had been at a rave with friends in Ultimo, where she had taken an
ecstasy Ecstasy may refer to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...
tablet and collapsed. Her friends drove her to their home in Sydney's
Northern Suburbs Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney’s north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sydney ...
, where they put her to bed, hoping she would sleep off the effects of a bad pill. Unbeknown to them, Wood had suffered hyponatremia, dangerously low salt levels, as the result of excessive water consumption. Her brain had swelled and she collapsed into a
coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...
the following morning. Donaghy was reluctant to pursue the story, and approached the project with caution. After meeting Anna Wood's mother, Angela, she was struck by the normality of the family. Donaghy noticed the possibility of a recurrence which she felt would strike a chord with the Australian public–particularly teenage girls. The book questions the duality of teenage freedom and parental restrictions, as well as Wood's portrayal of a wholesome, albeit slightly insecure and unsure girl next door. The book highlighted the urgency of a dialogue between parents and their children about illicit drug use, which was an issue of increasing importance in Australia at the time–up until Wood's death, there had only been one other reported death from ecstasy. ''Anna's Story'' was released in 1996 and became a best-seller. It was translated in German and sold in Europe. In Australia, it has sold over 130,000 copies (2018). The success of the book led to Donaghy's covering of two other adolescent health issues: teenage depression and suicide, in ''Leaving Early'' (1997). Her following work, ''Unzipped: Everything Teenagers want to know about Love, Sex and Each Other'' (1999) was covered with a humorous approach. These three books are Donaghy's most well known works, however she published two more books in the 1990s: ''Keeping Mum: Stories of Happy Parenting and Other Lies'', (1997), was a tongue-in-cheek book written as a guide for parents highlighting relationships and trust in teens and adults. Donaghy had also penned a children's fairy tale called ''Two and a Half Wishes''.


Death

Donaghy was diagnosed with a bone marrow disorder ( myelodysplasia aplastic anaemia) in 1999 and became dependent on blood transfusions in 2002. Donaghy had been scheduled to receive a bone marrow transplant in August 2002. She died on 23 July 2002 surrounded by family.


Personal life

Donaghy met her husband, a Northern Irish physicist, in London in the 1970s. They married in Sydney and had three children.


External links


Official site


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaghy, Bronwyn 1948 births 2002 deaths Australian feminist writers Australian women journalists Australian women short story writers Australian women novelists Writers from Newcastle, New South Wales 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian short story writers 21st-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian journalists