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On Sunday I watched ABC-TV Arts and saw a story about flamboyant fabric wallpaper designer/Sydney socialite Florence Broadhurst. Her dramatic and stunning screen prints done in her Paddington studio during the 1960s and 70s made her famous though she was better known for her even more colourful life. Tragically she was murdered in her studio one night in 1977. I've always had an interest in the designer before she was re-discovered. I was considering a book or a movie based not on Florence but a lady, Sherdene Rose, who contacted me when I was working for the TV breakfast current affairs how show Good Morning Australia. Sherdene was living in a Point Piper flat and strange things kept happening like someone was trying to contact her. She told me she pulled out a bathroom drawer and found a scarf signed Florence Broadhurst. Sherdene was living in the late Florence's flat. I did find the place rather spooky when I visited. Sherdene then began following 'dreams' and wanted me to write a movie based on what she was discovering about Florence's life - and murder. We couldn't get any interest in the idea so I suggested Sherdene write a book about what she was finding out. Years later Sherdene contacted me from Queensland very agitated and told me that she knew who'd murdered Florence. I eventually read her manuscript, minus the final revealing chapters. By then Sherdene had become quite ill and I had moved to Byron and I never heard anymore, until her husband Gerald contacted me to tell me Sherdene had died. Where's the manuscript and last chapters? I heard no more.
It was only after the launch of the Broadhurst collection in 2001 - so contemporary and stunning now being used by very exclusive designers - that I began to wonder. Florence's son and his wife ran the company for a short time after Florence's death, then sold it and the designs languished for 20 years until a New Zealand fabric designer (who'd met Florence) with an investor bought and brilliantly re-launched her collection. Florence Broadhurst is becoming a huge international force and the designs are guarded fiercely and strictly licenced. Some of her designs are still missing (she had huge pattern books with samples) but the Powerhouse Museum has a big collection. I discussed a novel about this with Bernadette my (then) editor a few years back but it's been on the backburner.
However journalist Helen (Siobhan)) O'Neil has written a biography of Florence, "A Life By Design" which is excellent and she says she felt Florence "guided" her.
For me there's still a book to be written - with a missing final chapter.
Cheers
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