Livvy's Pain, Rona Tells
Olivia Newton-John’s brave battle against cancer has left her little time to grieve over the death of her beloved father.
The singer’s sister Rona reveals both she and Olivia wished they could have focused all their attention on their father Brin, who died earlier this year. But news that Olivia had breast cancer shattered their hopes.
“We found out about Olivia’s illness within a few days of Dad’s death,” Rona says. “That was such a shock. We haven’t had the opportunity to grieve properly yet.”
Brinley Newton-John, 78, died in Sydney on July 3, Ironically, of the same disease Olivia is now battling cancer.
The tragedy happened just days after Rona and Olivia, who live near each other in California, left Australia following a family visit.
“Dad died on my brother’s birthday,” Rona says. “Olivia and I knew intuitively the day he died that it would happen. We just felt it.”
“Dad was the most distinguished man you could ever meet. He took his illness very well. It was a wonderful exit. I told him, ‘God leaves the best till last’. It’s an old Greek saying I heard from Chantal Contouri.”
Rona says that despite her pain Olivia is now showing that same silent strength a strong determination to win in her struggle against cancer.
Olivia faces several more months of debilitating chemotherapy, and a close friend says: “It’s been very hard on her.”
However, Rona stresses: “Olivia has a terrific attitude about her illness, and that is just so important for healing.”
Rona (above) is speaking to New Idea in the Spanish city of San Sebastian during the city’s 40th anniversary film festival. She says: “I bring stars here from the U.S. to add glamor to the festival.”
Living close to stardom is some thing she began learning about many years ago, but it has not been an easy lesson.
While Olivia has recently endured one trauma after another, Rona’s big problem has been how to cope with living in the shadow of her famous sister.
It has only been in recent times that Rona who over the years has turned her hand to acting, modelling, singing, directing, decorating and writing finally feels content with her own image and identity.
She says mental reprogramming was one of two ways she used to move out of Olivia’s shadow. The other was writing a book based on the lives of people who were over-shadowed by famous relatives.
“I interviewed 14 relatives of the very famous and there definitely was a common thread there, with similar feelings and identity problems,” she says.
“In the end the book wasn’t published, as they (the publishers) wanted out-of-school tales, which I was not prepared to talk about.”
“Writing the book was a cathartic experience for me as I really managed to get rid of many negative feelings I had held about being Olivia’s sister.”
“I now know who I am and feel good about myself as a person.”
Story by Eugenie Navarre. Picture by Isabel Azkarate