Comments on: Florence Broadhurst

By: mendofleur

mendofleur — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:09:57 +0000

No shallow ethics here. Florence definitely had some enemies as well as competitors. I wondered about J. Glover too, but it struck me as an easy solution to a question that was too painful to leave hanging. It was a fascinating read. I still find it hard to believe that the killer could never be identified. I think there is more to this than we will ever know. Your review was great. You have a gift for this. Hope you are doing well, and thanks for the interest.

By: Julia Moore

Julia Moore — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:33:59 +0000

Hi Phyllis,
I also wondered if a betrayed and gruntled ex-employee killed Florence, but this is a stretch when you really think about it…too anti-ethical for most true lovers of beauty. The book said that a man named John Glover, who was a distant relative of an ex-employee, and who had met Florence once in 1973 at a wedding, was convicted in 1991 for 5 heinous “Granny Killings,” the worst serial murders Australia has ever seen. Although he never admitted to killing Florence, the manner of her death fit his modus operandi perfectly, and she is presumed to be his first victim.
(It is possible that years later, over the last bit of a full bottle of good wine, a few of her “talents” could have remarked, “She got what she deserved, the old bat!”) But I am exposing my own shallow ethics!
Love, Julia

By: mendofleur

mendofleur — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:16:39 +0000

Julia,
What a fine and completely accurate description you provided about Florence Broadhurst. I loved your lines, “she could not see well, but saw greatly. She could not draw well, but drew the world to her door.” Very powerful analysis of her, absolutely true and so beautifully expressed. Thank you for coming back to this, and sharing such rich and well interpreted insight on her. Since you did recently read the book, I also wondered if someone close to her, one of her “talents” had murdered her because she had essentially stolen designs from several and claimed that they were her own. Perhaps this was a form of retribution.

By: Julia Moore

Julia Moore — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:38:43 +0000

I checked out Florence Broadhurst’s biography from our library and read it in 3 sittings. I am interested in the fact that although she did not have real talent as a visual artist she was still able to bring forth lasting, beautiful art using others’ talents under her super-vision, and this despite her failing vision. In short, she could not see well, but saw greatly. She could not draw well, but drew the world to her door. What a woman!
As usual, thank you for sharing your indominatable women and your lovely fabrics with me. Hope you are back to healthy wholeness soon.

By: jude

jude — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:10:45 +0000

life indeed is almost always stranger than fiction…i like how your review is two sided.

By: leilani

leilani — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:34:33 +0000

What an interesting coincidence–just got an email from my library telling me that the Florence Broadhurst book is ready for me to pick up. I’ve been waiting quite a while for it — it’s a popular read.

By: Pat Sieler

Pat Sieler — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:11:08 +0000

Wow, what a description. I don’t think I would want that kind of epitaph. But she sounds like you channeled her and she wrote it. But, that said, her designs are magnificent. I think that I would want that as my epitaph.
“She was a Designing Woman”. Now, I think that encompasses it all, the good and the bad?