SHE mightn't have lived here herself, but Newcastle has long had a claim on Olivia Newton-John through the presence of her academic father, Professor Brin Newton-John, who spent 16 years as a foundation staff member of the University of Newcastle until his retirement as deputy vice-chancellor in 1974.
That connection would have popped into the minds of many readers yesterday, when they heard that the Australian entertainment icon had died on Monday at the age of 73 after a recurrence of the breast cancer she had so publicly earlier in her life.
