Virginia Ironside (born 3 February 1944) is a British journalist,

agony aunt An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are wr ...

and author. Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, she is the daughter of

Christopher Ironside Christopher Ironside Order of the British Empire, OBE, Royal British Society of Sculptors, FRBS (11 July 1913 – 13 July 1992) was a British painter and coin designer, particularly known for the Obverse and reverse, reverse sides of the new Br ...

, painter and coin designer, and Janey Ironside who was the first professor of fashion design at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

. She is the niece of the painter and designer Robin Ironside.

Education

Ironside attended Miss Ironside's School in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, where her great-aunt was headmistress.

Career

Ironside writes a column, "Dilemmas", for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

,'' an agony column for the ''

Idler Idler refers to someone or something idle: * An idle game * A slacker, a person who habitually avoids work * Idler-wheel, a system used to transmit the rotation of the main shaft of a motor to another rotating device * Idler circuit, a circuit i ...

'', and a monthly column for ''

The Oldie ''The Oldie'' is a British monthly magazine written for older people "as a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity", according to its website. The magazine was launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who was its edit ...

''. Her first book, ''Chelsea Bird'', was published when she was 19. During the 1960s she wrote a

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

column for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' newspaper. She is an Honorary Associate of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. The Soc ...

Comments about abortion

Ironside received attention after her appearance on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

'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.

My Death My Decision

Ironside is a Patron of the right to die organisation, My Death My Decision. My Death My Decision is a right to die campaign organisation that wants to see a more compassionate approach to dying in the UK, including giving people the legal right to a medically assisted death if that is their persistent wish.

Works

*''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) * ''No, I Don’t Need Reading Glasses'' (2013) * ''Yes, I Can Manage, Thank You'' (2015) * ''No Thanks, I’m Quite Happy Standing'' (2016)

References

External links

''The Virginia Monologues''
1944 births Living people British advice columnists British women columnists British women writers British women journalists Writers from London Ironside family {{UK-journalist-stub