"conventional beauty is insignificant in the reckoning of a life"

I loved this opinion piece by the wonderful Adele Horin. "With its crevices, marks and splotches, amplified over three columns in The Sydney Morning Herald front-page obituary this week, the late artist's face was a frank statement of a life fully lived. No evidence there of efforts to soften the ravages of time with anti-ageing ''product'' and ''procedures''. What a face. What a lesson it holds for we women who obsess about crows' feet and liver spots and wrinkled brows; who hate the tiny lines sprouting like fine hairs above our lips, who hate our necks, and the bags under our eyes and much else that signals we are no longer young. What does this face tell us? It tells us that conventional beauty is insignificant in the reckoning of a life." Margaret Olley was a wonderful woman in the true spirit of great Australian women; she was talented, generous, an enthralling storyteller with a wicked sense of humour, and a strong-willed, free-spirited woman. As Horin said, "Margaret Olley's amazing life and amazing face are a testament to true beauty."