IN BRIEFThe 82-year-old died after complications from influenza.An acclaimed writer, d'Alpuget published her final novel in 2025, at 81.Blanche d'Alpuget, the Australian writer and widow of former prime minister Bob Hawke, has died.D'Alpuget died on Tuesday from complications from influenza. She was 82.In a statement, d'Alpuget's family remembered her as someone who lived "entirely on her own terms"."She was full of vitality, generosity and curiosity, with an extraordinary appetite for beauty, ideas, history, new places and spirited conversation. She refused to be confined by convention or by other people's expectations of who she should be," they said."We will miss her force, her humour, her curiosity and her love beyond measure."News that makes senseYour trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.They shared the words d'Alpuget lived by: “Our highest calling and greatest achievement is love, the rule of life. Love one another."Having never lost her appetite for life, d'Alpuget refused to be confined by convention or by other people's expectations of who she should be, the family said.Just two years before her death, at age 80, she swam with whale sharks in Indonesia and a year later published her final novel, a murder mystery entitled The Bunny Club.She is survived by her son, artist and sculptor Louis Pratt, daughter-in-law Brianna and granddaughter Sienna.The author married Hawke in 1995 after a tumultuous on-again, off-again affair that ran throughout the tenure of his prime ministership.D'Alpuget married Hawke in 1995 after an on-again, off-again affair throughout his prime ministership. Source: AAP / Tim Wimborne / APThe pair, who met at a party in 1970, remained together for 24 years until his death in 2019.Hawke controversially divorced his first wife, the popular Hazel, in 1994, which caused great family upheaval. She died in 2013.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has shared his condolences, saying Australia has lost "a true one-off"."As a writer, she was at home in fiction as she was in non-fiction, working in each realm with a keen eye for every telling detail that opened up the humanity of her subject to her readers," he said."Blanche’s novels were compelling works of verve and originality, and her biographies comprehensive and definitive – most famously those she wrote of Bob Hawke, who became her great love and ultimately her husband."Born in Sydney on January 3, 1944, d'Alpuget was shaped by early travels in Indonesia, Malaysia and Europe with first husband and diplomat, Tony Pratt, with whom she had her son.She began a more than six-decade career as a writer at The Daily Mirror and Woman's Day in Sydney and later at the News of the World in London.Gaining literary acclaim for her fictional works, d'Alpuget was also a lauded biographer, including a 1982 book on her later husband titled, Robert J. Hawke: A Biography.She met Hawke in Jakarta in 1970, but reconnected later in life — taking a job writing his biography, work that would later cement her as an award-winning writer.D’Alpuget attended the opening of Sydney's Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre in 2022. Source: AAP / Paul BravenThe pair were married in 1995, and shared over two decades together before Hawke's death in 2019.Among a flood of tributes were several from prominent figures from across the Labor Party and publishing industry.Federal minister Chris Bowen said d'Alpuget had cemented herself in the nation's culture and memory."Blanche was always delightful company. She lit up a room and was always full of joy and empathy," Mr Bowen said.A former publicity agent for the author described her "incredible aura, an infectious, positive energy that swept up everyone around her"."Indefatigable, quick-witted, curious and endlessly interesting, she was one of the most remarkable people we've had the privilege of working with," the agency said.For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.