Jackie Collins blazed a trail for so many women in fiction. She showed us all what it meant to be insanely successful, a brilliant storyteller, all while looking effortlessly glamorous. She’s an icon and a role-model for me, and I’m sure countless other writers.
Keeping her breast cancer diagnosis secret for so long must have been difficult. I’m sure there were times she wanted to lean on people she hadn’t told, but she was determined to be strong. Facing it like that only increases my admiration for her.
I think the best way to remember her is through her own words. “I refuse to mourn people, because everybody dies.”
Her family’s asked that people wanting to remember her donate to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Organization (U.S.) or Penny Brohn Cancer Care (U.K.). A beautiful and fitting way to pay tribute to a trail blazer.
Libby Cole 