Wendy was born on 18 December 1946 in Grafton, New South Wales, to William (Bill) and Joy Reid. She descended on her father’s side from a family who came to Australia from Scotland during the land clearances and the potato famine of the 1840s. They settled in the Northern Rivers region, some 400 miles north of Sydney. Another direct ancestor was a Peruvian who arrived on a whaling ship – the “James Arnold” – in 1857 and who later settled in the nearby Clarence River area in the 1870s.
Wendy was Girls Captain at her High School in Casino and went on to study at Balmain Teachers College in Sydney. From 1965 to 1968, she was a primary school teacher at Lithgow and Narrabri primary schools. Aged 23, she travelled abroad, first to Europe, and picked up work along the way. Travel was in her blood, and she discovered the beauty of the Middle East when she taught at the English School and in adult education in Kuwait. She worked in Egypt and enjoyed life for a short while on a Kibbutz in Israel as did many young Australians at the time and found time to visit Bahrain often.
In 1976, Wendy left teaching and became involved in journalism in the Middle East, mainly as the Kuwait representative for the Times Newspaper Ltd. In 1984, she returned to Australia as Sales Director for Al Hilal Publishing, a Bahrain-based publisher of trade magazines. She relocated to Cyprus as International Sales Development Manager for Al-Hilal. She spent time in each of the Al Hilal offices, especially London. Returning to Cyprus in 1985, she started to work as the Bahrain/Kuwait representative, and subsequently as regional Executive Director, for the International Herald Tribune, the world’s first global newspaper. She managed the Middle East Banking and Finance magazine and established and headed up a specialised financial clipping service “Money Clips”.
When Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Wendy and many of her friends were taken hostage, along with thousands of other foreign nationals. They were detained for many weeks by Saddam Hussein’s regime as bargaining chips against Western military action. Together with others, she managed to escape and get back to London to the immense relief of her family and friends. She later married her fellow hostage and close friend, art dealer and interior designer John Sellers, on 21 August 1992 at the Chelsea Old Town Hall Registry Office. It was a joyfully private joining of two gay friends who were there to support each other after surviving a terrifying ordeal which had long-term consequences for both. John died in 2001.
Wendy loved poetry, books, clever quotes and quips and had an extraordinary command of the English language, both spoken and written. She cared for numerous cats as pets in her lifetime and treasured their company. She was quick witted, loved a good joke, a drink and a smoke and remained interested in politics, current affairs and solving the woes of the world until she passed.
Wendy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2024 and her existing conditions meant that surgery was not possible. Her plans to return to Sydney were put on hold as she started treatment in London. The moment she accepted that her death was inevitable and imminent, she did so with class and honest bravery, not bravado.
Wendy passed away on 1 October 2025, aged 78, at St Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney, London. Her vision of creating a charitable legacy large enough to make a difference for the causes she felt so strongly for in her lifetime was her guiding light. In the UK, this included St Joseph’s Hospice which provided her with exceptional care in her last days. In Australia, she established and endowed a significant trust fund for charities that provide medical aid to Palestinian children, help for victims and survivors of domestic violence, and support for the homeless among other priorities she held dear.

Rest in peace Wendy – a fine, vivacious, extraordinary, tenacious, and generous woman.