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Blanche d’Alpuget Dies Aged 82

Tributes have focused on her definitive biography of Bob Hawke and a six-decade career that bridged political reporting, biography and historical fiction.

Overview

  • Her family confirmed she died on September 8 from complications of influenza and shared a final message that read, “Our highest calling and greatest achievement is love, the rule of life. Love one another.”
  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called d’Alpuget “a true one-off” as national leaders, writers and publishers issued tributes and major outlets prepared obituaries and retrospectives.
  • D’Alpuget rose to national prominence with Robert J. Hawke: A Biography in 1982, which won a NSW Premier’s Award and is widely credited with shaping public understanding of Hawke before he became prime minister.
  • Her personal life with Bob Hawke began after they met in Jakarta in 1970, developed into an on‑off relationship, and ended in a 1995 marriage that lasted until Hawke’s death in 2019 while drawing public scrutiny at times.
  • She continued to publish late in life, completing a five‑volume Plantagenet historical series between 2013 and 2020 and releasing the crime novel The Bunny Club in 2025, and her adventurous life— including surviving a 1993 light‑plane crash and travel to Raja Ampat—has become a key part of how she is remembered.