She’s also well-known for her career at The Australian Women’s Weekly; and for her time on Ten’s Good Morning Australia.
But there’s very much more to Di. Her personal story is actually remarkable.
Di was born in 1948. Her father was a man she never really knew, because her parents split when she was a baby, and her mother then married the man that Di always believed to be her father.
Then, when Di was 10, her step-father (still, in her mind, her father) and her dear baby brother, who was just 18 months old, drowned in an accident on Pittwater.
Her mother was left penniless, and in shock.
A family friend – by chance, it was Chips Rafferty – sent the hat around, and ultimately arranged for Di and her Mum to go to California, to live.
Her mother thrived, eventually becoming a screen director.
Di’s first job in Australia was for Sir Frank Packer. She worked at The Weekly with Ita Buttrose, then married a diplomat, Peter Morrissey, who took her to Hawaii, where she lived in a lovely home with maids and servants, but it really didn’t suit her.
She couldn’t write a thing.
The marriage ended, and at age 41, Di decided to follow her dream, and had her first book published. Now she’s read by millions.
Di will be a special guest at The Weekly‘s next champagne book club, in Melbourne on October 23.
Tickets are almost gone, but if you hurry, you can get one here: www.eventopia.co/bookworld
