The Tribune

SHEILA Hailey, a long-time permanent resident of The Bahamas and wife of bestselling author, Arthur Hailey, died in her home in Lyford Cay yesterday. She was 89.

Mrs Hailey (nee Dunlop) was born in London, England, on December 5, 1927, the youngest of four sisters. She was 11 when World War II broke out and experienced the horrors first hand. “Every day for the whole week before war was declared I said goodbye to my family and went to school, not knowing if I would be back,” she wrote. “I carried a lunch and, over my shoulder, suspended by a string, my gas mask in its cardboard case.”

In 1939, she - like millions of other English children - was evacuated to rural England. For three years, she lived in six different homes, away from her family and the London bombings.

In 1949, Mrs Hailey, always hungry for adventure, bought a one-way ticket aboard a passenger ship and sailed to Canada. She eventually landed in Toronto, where she met Arthur Hailey over a Dictaphone machine. Both worked at Maclean-Hunter magazine. They were married in 1951. Mrs Hailey initially worked as a stenographer and eventually landed her own television show, “Dear Sheila.”

With the publication and success of Arthur Hailey’s novel, ‘Hotel’, the Haileys and their children moved to the Napa Valley in California, where they were reunited with Arthur’s three sons from his first marriage. In 1969, following the publication of ‘Airport’, the family moved to The Bahamas and built their home in Lyford Cay.

In 1978, Mrs Hailey gained notoriety in her own right for her successful memoir, ‘I Married A Bestseller’, an affectionate and humorously candid account of her life with Arthur Hailey. In it, she wrote: “To stay happily married to anyone for 25 years is an achievement. To stay happily married to a writer is a miracle.”

Their loving marriage, in fact, lasted 53 years. Mr Hailey predeceased his wife in 2004.

The Haileys loved The Bahamas and became actively involved in community service. Mrs Hailey served as Co-Chair of the Gifts and Grants Committee of the Lyford Cay Foundations until 1979 and remained a board director until she retired in 2001, becoming an honorary director. Neither Arthur nor Sheila Hailey had the opportunity to attend college and were therefore passionate about supporting Bahamian students’ access to higher education.

Mrs Hailey was also an active member of the Bahamian chapter of the International Women’s Forum. In addition, she is fondly remembered for co-ordinating the annual food drive and overseeing the Christmas party at the Persis Rodgers Home for the Aged. In 2013, Mrs Hailey endowed the permanent Arthur Hailey Exhibition at The University of The Bahamas, which houses his novels and plays, foreign translations and a career of memorabilia.

Mrs Hailey is survived by her children - Jane, Steven and Diane Hailey; her stepsons - John and Mark Hailey; their spouses - Robert Miranda, Susan Hailey, Ross Brown, Barbara Hailey and Laurie Hailey; six grandchildren - Chris, Ryan, Charlotte, Brooke, Emma and Paul Hailey; and two great grandchildren - Sadie and Audrey Gregory. Her eldest stepson, Roger Hailey, and her granddaughter, Angela Hailey Gregory, predeceased her.

Sheila Hailey possessed a rare combination of elegance, authenticity and a wonderful sense of fun. As a close friend wrote shortly before her death, “I will endeavour to channel her wit, charm and mischievousness in the days ahead, as my best way to honour her.” To her last day, embodied the spirit and grace she exhibited all her life.