Gabrielle Carey dead at 64: Puberty Blues co-author Kathy Lette pays tribute

Australian author Gabrielle Carey, best known for co-authoring the iconic teen novel Puberty Blues, has died suddenly at the age of 64.

Her death comes just months after she wrote an article revealing that she was “terrified” of turning 64, after her father’s death by suicide at the same age.

The Australian reports that there are no suspicious circumstances.

Sydney-born Carey and co-author Kathy Lette caused a sensation in 1979 with the publication of Puberty Blues, a candid, at times explicit story about two teenage girls living in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire.

The book – the first teenage novel in Australia to be written by teenagers – was a sensation, and was adapted into a 1981 movie and, later, an acclaimed 2012 TV series on Ten.

Lette today paid tribute to the woman with whom she co-authored the groundbreaking book almost 45 years ago.

“I’m deeply saddened by the tragic news about my old friend Gabrielle Carey. I have such happy memories of our teenage years. They were halcyon, heady days full of love, laughter and adventure,” she tweeted, along with a picture of the pair in their younger days.

“We made some mischief and broke some barriers by writing Puberty Blues – our raw, earthy take on the brutal treatment of young women in the Australian surfing scene which is sadly, still so relevant. My heartfelt condolences to her family and friends.

Daughter of prominent Australian writer Alex Carey, Gabrielle wrote nine more books after Puberty Blues, mostly memoir and nonfiction titles. Her 1984 book Just Us, an account of her real-life relationship with a prisoner at Paramatta Jail, was adapted into a telemovie in 1986.

Carey fell in love with Terry Haley, who was serving 27 years for abduction and rape, when she visited the jail. The pair married while he was still in prison.

Her most recent book, Only Happiness Here: In Search Of Elizabeth Von Arnim, was published in 2020.

She wrote recently in the Sydney Morning Herald about her father’s suicide at the age of 64, stating that she became “terrified” of turning the same age.

“If I have inherited my father’s disposition for depression, did that mean I would also end up in an early grave?” she asked. The article was published one month before her 64th birthday. Tragically, she would die just four months later.

More Coverage

The Australian’s chief literary critic, Geordie Williamson, paid tribute to Carey, who wrote regularly for the outlet.

“Her life has been cut short, cruelly. In other cultures an author of Gabrielle Carey’s gifts would have been widely feted. Instead, like so many Australian writers before her, she laboured for decades in relative anonymity and with only scant support,” he said.

Carey had in her later years been teaching writing at various Australian universities. She is survived by a daughter and a son.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ7xKernqqklravucSnq2iblaGyo77IrbBmpJmbsnCvxKWcm6qZqcZusMSaq6GrX5eyurvNnWSsmZSZsq%2Bxw6msm52iqcZursuunKxlkarBqbvRZp6amqKesq24xGaamqqVrnqlscCdZJqsXWuBcLrEsKpmq6Skv7p7kJpvcmlhaIWnhJSbbnJrkpmzpbGQmppwaGhnsqevlmw%3D