 Suffering from chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and having survived diphtheria and typhoid fever, her father's illness is a pall that hangs over many of the tales in "Stories from the Warm Zone", and his death was undoubtedly a "bitter blow" to the young girl and her siblings.Anderson appeared to have a complicated relationship with Brisbane, a city "where brutality and gentleness rested so easily side by side.