World's oldest blogger, Olive Riley, dies at 108By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney and Fiona Govan in Madrid
Last Updated: 3:10PM BST 14/07/2008
An Australian woman believed to be the world's oldest blogger has died aged 108, after writing a post about her deteriorating health.
Olive Riley began blogging in February 2007 after a friend suggested the idea and offered to type up the posts on her behalf.
Her blog, The Life of Riley, became an international hit, with readers logging on from the United States to Russia to hear stories about her life.
Mrs Riley' tales of surviving two world wars and the Depression, bringing up three children on her own and working as a cook in the Australian outback and a barmaid in Sydney, were also nominated for a Blogger's Choice award in 2007.
Not content to stick to writing, she later branched out into video, posting clips of herself talking and singing on YouTube, the video-sharing website.
In her 74th and final post on June 26, she wrote about moving into a nursing home because of her ill health.
"I still feel weak and can't shake off that bad cough," she said.
She also described singing "a happy song" with a visitor and said she had "read a whole swag of email messages and comments from my internet friends today".
"I was so pleased to hear from you. Thank you, one and all," she wrote.
Born in Broken Hill, a mining town in the Australian bush, in 1899, Olive would have turned 109 in October.
Her grandson, Darren Stone, said she loved the attention her blogs - or blobs as she once mistakenly called them - brought her.
"She enjoyed the notoriety - it kept her mind fresh," he told Australian newspapers.
"She had people communicating with her from as far away as Russia and America on a continual basis, not just once in a while.
"What kept her going was the memories she had, and being able to recall those memories so strongly."
Bloggers have started posting their own tributes to Mrs Riley.
Shirley Buxton wrote : "She was an amazing woman and will be mourned by her family and her readers who numbered into the thousands."
Mrs Riley's funeral will be held later this week.
Maria Amelia Lopez from Galicia in northern Spain can now rightfully claim the title of the world's oldest blogger.
The woman dubbed "little granny" by her readers has had over 1.2 million hits since she started her blog in December 2006 when her grandson set it up for her 95th birthday.
Her chronicle, which she writes sporadically a couple of times a month, is a collection of thoughts on subjects ranging from the inflictions of old age to her take on modern life.
Ms Lopez claims it has opened a whole new world for her, putting her in touch with people of all generations across the globe but in a recent post she complained about some of the language used by those leaving comments on her blog.
http://www.allaboutolive.com.au/ Olive's blog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oaNEt1Q-YU Olive on Youtube
World's Oldest blogger dies, RIP Olive Riley
Jul 15 2008, 06:11 AM
