Quick Facts
Biography
Virginia Ironside (born 1944) is a British journalist, agony aunt and author. Born in London, she is the daughter of Christopher Ironside, painter and coin designer,and Janey Ironside who was the first-ever professor of fashion design at the Royal College of Art. She was the niece of the visionary painter and designer Robin Ironside.
Ironside writes a column, "Dilemmas", for The Independent, an agony column for the Idler, and a monthly column for The Oldie. Her first book, Chelsea Bird, was published when she was 19. During the 1960s she wrote a rock music column for the Daily Mail newspaper. She is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.
Comments about abortion
Ironside received attention after her appearance onBBC 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.
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)