Bonkowski was born in Adelaide, one of four to Polish immigrants, Maria and Jerzy. She attended Cabra College, then the
University of Adelaide to study Law, before attending
Flinders University, where she switched to English Literature and Drama. She married television producer
Kimble Rendall in 1982 and they had two adopted children, William and Camille. Bonkowski was the presenter of programs including
Rock Around the World (SBS),
Continental Drift (SBS),
Music Video (Channel 10), and
The Big Byte (SBS). As a television producer she worked for
Screentime and
Endemol Shine and was a producer of the series
RBT for the
Nine Network. Bonkowski, studied at the
University of Sydney before becoming a published author with
Shimmer, a 2009 book about her mother, and ''Jesse's World'', a book on international adoption published in 2005. She died on 3 September 2022 from lymphoma. ==References==