August 10, 2011

A Past Visit With Dame Elisabeth Murdoch

A few weeks ago, I was listening to National Public Radio, when I heard an interview with David Leser, who wrote a story called “The Anguish of Murdoch’s Mom” for the Daily Beast. I am referring to Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch’s mother. As you probably have heard, Rupert Murdoch has been under fire for his tabloid, News of the World phone-hacking scandal. It seems that more than four decades ago, Dame Elisabeth, who is now 102-years old, warned Rupert not to buy that publication and he did not take her advice.

I have fond memories of meeting Dame Elisabeth in March of 2000, when I traveled to Australia to meet with members of the Murdoch publishing group. She heard that I would be in Melbourne and extended an invitation to my travelling companions and me to visit her Cruden Farm, the 153-acre Murdoch family estate. Dame Elisabeth was a very gracious hostess and she motored us around her impressive gardens on an electric garden buggy. Knowing that we had a plane to catch later that afternoon, she hurried us along saying, “No time – let’s move on.” She then scooted us inside and fed us a fresh and delicious lunch with produce from her gardens. The photos for this blog were taken with a film camera, because that’s what everyone used in 2000. I found the pictures in my photo archive room and had them digitized. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did recalling this visit with a most amazing and highly revered Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.

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