Virginia Ironside (born 1945 in London, UK) is a British journalist, agony aunt and author. She is the daughter of painter and coin designer Christopher Ironside and fashion designer and the first-ever professor of fashion design at the Royal College of Art Janey Ironside, and the niece of the visionary painter and designer Robin Ironside.
Ironside writes a column, "Dilemmas", for The Independent and a monthly column for The Oldie. Her first book, Chelsea Bird, was published at the age of nineteen. During the 1960s she wrote a rock music column for the Daily Mail newspaper. She is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.
Books by Virginia Ironside
- Chelsea Bird (1964)
- Distant Sunset (1982)
- Made for Each Other (1985)
- How to Have a Baby and Stay Sane (1989)
- The Subfertility Handbook (Overcoming Common Problems) (1995)
- You’ll Get Over It: The Rage of Bereavement (1997)
- Problems! Problems!: Confessions of an Agony Aunt (1998)
- Goodbye, Dear Friend: Coming to Terms with the Death of a Pet (1998)
- Janey and Me: Growing Up with My Mother (2003)
- The Huge Bag of Worries (2004)
- No! I Don’t Want to Join a Bookclub (2007)
- The Virginia Monologues - 20 Reasons Why Growing Old is Great (2009)
Controversy
Ironside received considerable attention after her appearance on BBC One's religious discussion programme, Sunday Morning Live, in 2010. She stated "If a baby's going to be born severely disabled or totally unwanted, surely an abortion is the act of a loving mother." and added "If I were the mother of a suffering child - I mean a deeply suffering child - I would be the first to want to put a pillow over its face... If it was a child I really loved, who was in agony, I think any good mother would." Though some viewers supported Ironside, many complaints were registered on the programme's website message board.
Notes
External links
- The Virginia Monologues
