Acknowledgements

Thankfully I am surrounded by the most wonderful, funny and especially tolerant people in my life who put up with all of my many quirky ways, people like Lynne Burford and David Shallue - more family than friends, John Frost and Shane O’Connor, Peter and Norma Powell, Peter and Leonie Hansen who are my best audience. Leonie kindly helped edit portions of this book together with Leanne Morton, Marlene Cream and Val, Jan and Peter Hallam - two persons who I admire hugely. Also special thanks to John Burbidge, a very dear friend and a successful author in his own right, and his partner Bruce Robertson for their expert and kind advice and John’s extremely detailed editing, Stan Suiter and his whole family, Betty Box Office, Valerie Adnams, Peter and Mary Costello and especially my family...well, most of them! Since losing Debbie Reynolds’s PA, Jenny Powers, one lovely surprise, has been our friendship with dear Donald Light who is Debbie Reynolds’ ‘everything’ and whose friendship we treasure. There are too many of you to mention here but I sincerely hope that you all know who you are and how much you mean to me. I do want to make special mention of Ian Howells who knew me way back when and who I was pleased to establish contact again with through Facebook.