--- description: Thorn Birds author Colleen McCullough received an obituary in the Australian describing her “plain of feature” and “certainly overweight” title: Outrage After Author’s Obituary Calls Her 'Overweight' and 'Plain' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a7acfb262c8995d/69877cbe06f2c14ae2333b29/123194087.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [obituary](/tag/obituary/) ## obituary Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Outrage After Top Female Author Called 'Overweight' and 'Plain' in Obituary by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 30, 2015 7:20 AM CUT  Australian author Colleen McCullough in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Aug. 31, 2000 in Sydney, Australia Australian author Colleen McCullough in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Aug. 31, 2000 in Sydney, AustraliaPeter Carrette Archive—Getty Images by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 30, 2015 7:20 AM CUT Acclaimed _Thorn Birds_ author Colleen McCullough, who died Wednesday at the age of 77, received a detailed obituary Thursday in the _Australian_ newspaper, which chose to honor her passing by [describing](http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/the-thorn-birds-author-colleen-mccullough-dies-on-norfolk-island/story-e6frg8n6-1227201243185?nk=bc5f2f4580008915d085cf23f7d47f10 "undefined") her as “plain of feature” and “certainly overweight.” Despite penning the [highest-selling novel](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/30/colleen-mcculloch-well-celebrate-a-woman-for-anything-as-long-as-its-not-her-talent "undefined") in Australia’s history, McCullough’s obituary opened with disparaging remarks on her appearance. This prompted fans to vent fury via Twitter at the sexist characterization of the author’s life and grave oversight of her career accomplishments, including teaching at Yale Medical School and writing a novel selling over [30 million](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/29/us-australia-people-mccullough-idUSKBN0L20Q520150129 "undefined") copies around the world. > [](https://twitter.com/VABVOX/status/561044856513236992) > [](https://twitter.com/mrbenjaminlaw/status/561026394579144704) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3689095/colleen-mccullough-obituary-overweight-plain/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3689095/colleen-mccullough-obituary-overweight-plain/"},"headline":"Outrage After Top Female Author Called 'Overweight' and 'Plain' in Obituary","datePublished":"2015-01-30T07:20:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:09:50.319Z","description":"Australian author Colleen McCullough, 77, did not receive the laurels she was due by one newspaper","url":"https://time.com/3689095/colleen-mccullough-obituary-overweight-plain/","keywords":["obituary","twitter"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a7acfb262c8995d/69877cbe06f2c14ae2333b29/123194087.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sabrina Toppa","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a7acfb262c8995d/69877cbe06f2c14ae2333b29/123194087.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Peter Carrette Archive Collection","caption":"Peter Carrette Archive Collection","creditText":"Peter Carrette Archive—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/obituary/","name":"obituary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3689095/colleen-mccullough-obituary-overweight-plain/","name":"Outrage After Top Female Author Called 'Overweight' and 'Plain' in Obituary"}}]}] ```