"She was fat and plain but she still got laid". The extraordinary Australian obituary for Colleen McCullough.

In what can only be described as sheer comic brilliance, the people of Australia have responded to the horrible obituary for author Colleen McCullough in the best possible way.

UPDATE:

After the shocking obituary published for Australian author Colleen McCullough yesterday, thousands of Aussies took to Twitter last night to post their own obituaries.

The hashtag #myozobituary quickly became a trend, with Aussie comedians, TV hosts, journalists and writers all joining in to pay tribute to Colleen (and have a go at describing their worst possible features).

Now that’s something that Colleen McCullough would really have enjoyed.

Have a look for yourself:

Previously Mamamia wrote:

As Mamamia reported this morning, much-loved Australian author Colleen McCullough passed away yesterday at age 77.

The following obituary for the internationally best-selling author of The Thorn Birds appeared in The Australian:

No, this is not a trick or a photoshop joke: The second line reads:

“Plain of feature, and certainly overweight, she was, nevertheless a woman of wit and warmth.”

The link to the online version is here, in case you want to see the original copy.

It’s hard to know where to start. With the demeaning description of her face and weight or the use of the word ‘nevertheless’……..

Or possibly the placement of the next quote about how (remarkably!) she has, over the years,  managed to find people (plural!) who were not so repulsed by her physically that they wanted to pursue a relationship with her.

Because when you’re a neurophysiologist and one of the most successful and well-loved and respected authors Australia has ever produced, this is how your obituary should start in our national broadsheet.

Related content: Colleen McCullough has died at age 77.

Here, she talks to Andrew Denton about writing, her husband, money and how she knew when to let go of her work…..

Related content: Kate Hunter on loving The Thorn Birds as a child.