With her death we have all lost the books she will now never write … and I have lost the truest and best writing friend I could imagine.

Like Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting, Praise was like a self-help manual for the times. McGahan’s voice became one you could trust. He seemed to have been- there done-that. All laced with a sharp tang of humour.

Andy Griffiths is one of Australia’s most successful writers for the anarchic books he writes with illustrator Terry Denton – for kids big and little. We asked him about the writer who has made the most impact on his life’s work and he chose Natalie Goldberg. Find out why …