Bestselling author Colleen McCullough dies, gets super sexist obituary written about her

Australian author Colleen McCullough died on Thursday (January 29).

Best known for writing The Thorn Birds, a novel that sold 30 million copies and was turned into a miniseries, one Australian newspaper focused on her appearance and how desirable McCullough was to men instead of lauding her achievements in the author's obituary.

Here's the second line of her obituary from The Australian: "Plain of feature, and certainly overweight, she was, nevertheless, a woman of wit and warmth."

Why feminism? Because you can sell 30 MILLION copies of a single book and when you die, The Australian prints this: pic.twitter.com/DAqkvphV35

— Comrade Badham (@vanbadham) January 30, 2015

According to Crikey, "the obituary was written some years ago by a male obituary writer who has since passed away himself."

This is hardly the first time a woman's obituary has caused an uproar. After the death of rocket scientist Yvonne Brill in 2013, the first line of her obituary in the New York Times focused on her ability to cook. After an uproar, the Times rewrote the lede.

In a Facebook post, HarperCollins Books Australia said, "She was one of the first Australian writers to succeed on the world stage." 

McCullough was 77.