Blanche d’Alpuget laughed a lot. She dwelled on the good in people, rarely complaining about the bad or commenting on what she might have considered their weaknesses.
To remember Blanche as Bob Hawke’s wife, while accurate, also diminishes her. She was a prolific author who had deep insights into people she knew and many whom she didn’t.
Blanche was not entirely happy if she didn’t have a new book on the go. She would immerse herself in research for the next one, taking no break from the one just published.
We had many discussions about the Middle East, the historical origins of the conflict and the personalities involved. It was, she concluded, a diabolical problem with no obvious solution.
Thirty-six years ago, Bob asked me if he could be the godfather of our first child. And so it came to pass, Blanche always joining Bob in welcoming him into their home at Sydney’s Northbridge.
Blanche was an enormous source of advice and comfort to Bob. On many occasions in his declining years, she invited my partner and me to their home for dinner where, at Bob’s urging, we talked of spirituality – including life after death.
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Blanche was convinced there was one, which she fully expected to enjoy and assured Bob he would too.
The form of the afterlife that Blanche believed in was not entirely clear to me. Mostly it resembled the spiritualism of one of the eastern religions, although she did ask me to arrange for a Catholic bishop to visit Bob.
Upon our many happy visits to the Northbridge house we would, however, be out of favour if we failed to bring Bob a caramel milkshake. So, we never failed the test.
For a bit of respite, we would go to the movies together, leaving Bob with a carer.
Blanche was an enthusiast for Bob’s reconciliation with Paul Keating, spending a lot of time with him discussing the good old days when Bob and Paul worked together and enjoyed each other’s companionship. She was delighted with the restoration of their friendship.
Blanche loved her son, Louis, deeply. So much so that for an extended period Louis set up residence in the boathouse at end of their garden, enabling him to provide a constant source of companionship and love for Bob and Blanche.
On 10 May 2019, I stayed with Bob for what was to be his last weekend, the night before the wedding of Louis and his fiancee, Brianna, in the Blue Mountains. Blanche was delighted that Bob made the trip to witness her beloved son’s marriage.
Without Bob’s company Blanche would get quite lonely, living alone in a fabulous apartment overlooking Hyde Park in Sydney.
But now, somewhere in the universe, she would fully expect to be reunited with Bob and resume their decades-long romance.
