Maeve Binchy, Queen of the Bookshelves ... and Friend

They were different days and some hilarious stories came out of that time, like when she chose a photo to accompany a cookery item on making a veal casserole. Finding a file picture with various items sticking out of a dish and assuming them to be knives and forks, she wrote the caption and the woman’s page went to press.

The photo turned out to be a picture of the second heart transplant carried out by Dr Christian Bernard. No matter how many times I hear the story of the panic that followed, including a night time call to the editor (unheard of!), I laugh until my eyes water.

Maeve loved and cherished her friends. She summed up the feeling: 'there is a great comfort about being with people who knew you way back'. Like some kind of mental shorthand, there is an easy-going feeling that life doesn't have to be explained or defined; we are all in more or less the same boat. To have a community around you in a changing and unstable world is invaluable and nothing can beat the feeling that there will always be people out for our good.

Maeve Binchy’s massive output of work will live on; her words will continue to be read by people who enjoy a big, long, wonderful story.

She was the absolute star of Irish novelists, an inspiration to so many of us, generous and full of sound advice. It was a real privilege to have known her.

Editor's Note: Another of SeniorWomen.com's writers, the late David Westheimer, wrote about his lunch with Maeve near Santa Monica, California, Eating High on the Calamari.

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Culture and Arts, Relationships and Going Places, Literature and Poetry, Culture Watch, Senior Women Web, Articles, Book Reviews, Jane Shortall, Authors, David Westheimer Add comments

Maeve Binchy, Queen of the Bookshelves ... and Friend

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