My Journey with Farrah

by Alana Stewart

Harper Collins. Biographical. Hardback rrp $35.00

Everyone who lived through the 70’s will know who Farrah Fawcett was - Charlie’s Angels’ biggest sex symbol.

Tragically Farrah succumbed to cancer in June this year. She was first diagnosed in 2006 with aggressive rectal cancer and was given six months to live. My Journey with Farrah is the story of Farrah’s life and illness from October 2006 until a few days before her death.

Alana Stewart was one of Farrah’s closest friends and her companion through the drugs, nurses, doctors, tests, highs and lows. For three years Alana supported her friend in the struggle to beat a disease that never did anything that was expected.

The book is set out like a diary with photos and uneven page edges. It is a detailed personal view of how cancer affects everyone it touches. Farrah decided early on in her treatment to video everything; from the interviews with the doctors to the actual operations. Alana not only recorded everything in her diary but she also became the cameraman.

Alana’s life is interwoven with Farrah’s. The book tells of the harrowing personal difficulties she faced while continuing to support Farrah - her son being arrested and subsequently jailed, her own brush with cancer, and meeting a new love.

Even though there are glimpses of a “how the other half lives”, My Journey with Farrah is primarily the story of a woman’s struggle against a terminal illness.

Throughout the book are personal family photographs and excerpts of the past before Farrah was diagnosed. This is not a sad read but an uplifting account of courage and friendship in the face of great difficulty. A beautiful story.