The hidden benefits of peaking later in life
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hello and welcome to Something to Talk About, the Stella podcast. I'm Sarah Lamarquand, your host, and every week I sit down with some of the biggest names in the country, because when Australia's celebrities are ready to talk, they come to Something to Talk About. For nearly three decades, Frances Whiting's Sunday Mail column has been a weekly ritual for her readers.
What led Frances Whiting to become a columnist for nearly 30 years?
Next year, she'll become Australia's longest-running continuous columnist, after 30 years of a career built on telling other people's stories. Yet the most defining chapters of Frances's own life arrived later than expected.
How did Frances experience motherhood later in life?
She had her first child at 40, her second at 45, and published her first novel at 46. Now, at 61, her fifth book, The Nocturnals, has become another bestseller.
I really love that I can talk to other women who are panicking and I'm able to say to them, you don't have to panic.
What insights does Frances share about societal pressures on women regarding milestones?
On today's episode of The Stella Podcast, Fran reflects on the pressure women place on themselves to reach life's milestones by a certain age. and why it's never too late to start the thing you think you've missed your chance to do. We also chat about the most surprising feedback she's received over the years and the surreal encounter where she once had coffee with John F. Kennedy Jr. in Paris. Frances Whiting, welcome to the Stellar podcast.
Thank you, Sarah. I'm very, very happy to be here.
You are Australia's longest running Sunday columnist. Next year will be 30 years since you've been writing your column for Queensland Sunday Mail. What are your recollections about those early years writing a column as opposed to now where it's obviously living in print and digital and now there's social?
What unique feedback has Frances received from her readers over the years?
Has the process of putting a column together changed for you as much as the way that it's distributed has over those 30 years?
You know what, Sarah, the nice thing about the column that I would say is that it is the one thing, the one part of my job that hasn't changed at all. And I think that is why it is still going.
How did Frances handle the pressure of writing her first novel at 46?
I'd like to say it's because I'm a very talented writer and brilliant everywhere to gem. But I honestly think that with the column, it's been pretty much in the same space on Sunday for 30 years. And I think in a world where people are feeling very disconnected, where social media makes us feel a little bit insecure, you know, I think that For readers, having that anchor point every Sunday that's very familiar, they kind of know what they're going to get. There's not too many surprises with it. And for me as a journalist, the nicest thing would be that every time I sit down to write that column, genuinely, I just think the same thing, which is two things. I think I'm writing to a friend and I think, and my job is to make that friend smile and or laugh if I can swing it.
What about the nature of the feedback from your readers over that time, Fran? Do you still get letters and things in the mail? I guess people are now sliding into your DMs, as they say.
I still actually get physical letters. Obviously nowhere near as many as I used to, but I get mostly emails and then Instagram messages as well. It's really special.
What was the significance of Frances's encounter with John F. Kennedy Jr.?
The thing is, is that when we write, Sarah, and you would feel this too, you're not quite sure who you're writing to. With a column, I know exactly who I'm writing to because they write back. And some readers have read every single column for 30 years. And as I'm doing this book tour for my book, some of them are coming. and saying, I'm here because I've been reading your column for 30 years, or my mum's been reading your column for 30 years. You know, in that time that I've been writing the column, you know, I got married, I had kids, my father, you know, life goes on. And for many of the readers, exactly the same. So sometimes when they write to me, they want to tell me that stuff as well. So quite often the letters I get from readers are quite personal.
How does that responsibility sit with you? Because it is a real privilege as a journalist if someone is sharing these stories with you.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:08–0:29
2
What led Frances Whiting to become a columnist for nearly 30 years?
0:29–0:45
3
How did Frances experience motherhood later in life?
0:45–1:06
4
What insights does Frances share about societal pressures on women regarding milestones?
1:06–1:58
5
What unique feedback has Frances received from her readers over the years?
1:58–2:19
6
How did Frances handle the pressure of writing her first novel at 46?
2:19–3:35
7
What was the significance of Frances's encounter with John F. Kennedy Jr.?
3:35–6:36
8
How can late bloomers find inspiration in Frances's journey?
6:36–35:22