Back Chat: Good Weekend letters to the editor, November 30

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It’s Saturday, and now I’ve done The Quiz ...@lilywestie2008

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Letters

In her own words
Like Good Weekend editor Katrina Strickland [November 16], I, too, was in an outback bar on the day of Bob Hawke’s state funeral, where the TV, also with no sound, was broadcasting his memorial. An old Indigenous man said as we both looked at the silent screen, “I met that bloke years ago, when he came out here to talk to the workers of the region during a strike.” He then said what many Australians in many pubs were no doubt thinking: “You know, he was a good bloke. I’m glad I got the chance to meet him.”
Christopher Hunt
Darling Point, NSW

Amanda Hooton, in her inimitable style, has written sensitively about Blanche d’Alpuget. This has led to some understanding on my part towards both Bob and Blanche and the happy life they shared in his last 25 years.
Siri Ranawake
Hurstville, NSW

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... I can have a little nap.@lilywestie2008

The kids are not alt-right
When my youngest son was 12, he proclaimed: “I’m a straight white male; of course, I’m racist, homophobic and sexist” [November 16]. That was the message he was getting from school and the media, and he was going to push back, with mockery and a smirk. Certainly, the psychology of teenage rebellion isn’t going out of business any time soon.
Alan Garrity
North Narrabeen, NSW

Social

F: Pauline Hawkins I loved Blanche’s story: honest and refreshing among sadness [“In her own words”, November 16]. Everyone does things differently; just because she removed her wedding ring doesn’t mean she didn’t love Bob. She looked after him in sickness and was with him until his dying day.

F: Lea Harrison He loved her. She loved him. It’s a nice story and that’s what matters at the end of the day.

F: Ralph Schneider “She slowly realised Hawke was simultaneously ‘having affairs with women all over the country, that his love life was a kind of free-wheeling, decentralised harem, with four or five favourites and a shoe-sale queue of one-night stands’.” Imagine the reaction had it been a female instead of “our Hawkie”, and behold how entrenched our double standards are!

​F: Rebecca Evelyn A remarkable story and a fantastic player; can’t wait to see the footy he plays with the team in 2020 [“Marlion’s chance”, November 16].

F: Rom Lawrie Great article about an amazing and determined young man who deserves the success he has worked so hard for.

Want to chat? We’d love to hear from you. Send your letters to goodweekend@goodweekend.com.au (please include your suburb, state and phone number). Or give us your thoughts at Good Weekend online, or on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages.

To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.