Shona McFarlane

Shona McFarlane (1929 - 2001) completed her first book of paintings and prose during a 14 year stint as a Dunedin print journalist. In 1969 she became the first woman invited to join the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council (forerunner to Creative New Zealand). But many knew her for another role: as feisty, enthusiastic panelist on popular advice show Beauty and the Beast. McFarlane also presented arts show Picture Gallery.

It was to have been a short 13-week fill-in series but stretched to almost 12 years … none of us were professional advice givers or social workers, we were just a group of women who had lived long enough and had done enough to gain our own experiences of life and its joys or hazards... Shona McFarlane on Beauty and the Beast, in her 1999 book Shona McFarlane - A Memoir