Edel Wignell, her name caught my eye and when I googled her story caught my brain. Read on MacDuff!

Some little facts

Her first name rhymes with medal.

She lived on a sheep farm in northern Victoria when she was little.

She was born in Echuca. It’s a lovely little town, my first memories are of one of the most beautiful trees…but I digress.

She’s bequeathed her writing earnings and copyright to the Australian Society of Authors who have created the Edel Wignell Mentorship for new writers for children.

Wignell has written 100 books for children. Her writing for adults can be found in more than 100 journals!

Now for the big stuff

Wignell has been in pain for 30 years and while she’s done as much as she can she’s decided she’d like to be able to end her own life when she chooses. Just like Terry Pratchett she’s a full advocate of dying with dignity and as this is a topic dear to my heart I looked no further for an author to write about today.

So, here she is on the ABC website in July last year. Eloquent and covering the pain well, she looks like she could be the poster girl for any dying with dignity campaign. If you read the article you’ll notice the last paragraph talks about the End of Life Choices inquiry, it’s due to report this month and with a little googling I found it has until the 31st May. They’ll have to get their skates on, and I’m sure Wignell will be watching with great interest. The government then have six months to respond.