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Gavin Souter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gavin Geoffrey SouterAO(born 2 May 1929)[1]is an Australian journalist and historian.

He was born inSydney,the son of a bank manager, Archibald Souter and Roma Souter, was[2]educated atKempsey High School,andScots College[3]inWarwick, Queenslandand graduated BA from theUniversity of Sydney.He joinedThe Sydney Morning Heraldas a cadet journalist in 1947 and worked there for the next 40 years, serving as a correspondent inNew York CityandLondon[3]and eventually as Assistant Editor ofThe Herald.

In 1960 Souter received the Walkley National Award for Australian Journalism.

His books have includedNew Guinea: The Last Unknown(1963), a history of the exploration of all the territories of New Guinea, written after he had accompanied an initial penetration patrol making first contact with the Gants people of the Jimi Valley;A Peculiar People(1968), an account of theNew AustraliaUtopian settlement inParaguay;The Idle Hill of Summer: an Australian Childhood 1939-1945(1972);Lion & Kangaroo: The Initiation of Australia 1901-1919(1976). In 1981 he was commissioned by John Clunies-Ross, "King" of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, to research and write the history of that principality in the Indian Ocean. After completion, the manuscript was not published as the Commissioner felt that it differed from his own recollection of events during his rule.

In 1983 the Federal Parliamentary Library commissioned him to write the narrative history of theParliament of Australia.Acts of Parliamentwas published in 1988 as part of the Parliament's commemoration of the Bicentennial of European settlement in Australia.

Among other books by Souter are two histories of John Fairfax Limited:Company of Heralds(1981), which won the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies award;[3]andHeralds and Angels: the House of Fairfax 1841-1990(1992), which won theVictorian Premier's Literary Award.[3]

He was Vice President of theAustralian Society of Authors1975–78, Deputy Chairman of the Commonwealth Films Board of Review 1981–84, and is Patron of Mosman Historical Society.

His wife of 62 years, Ngaire (née Avison), died on 26 July 2014. He has two daughters, Anne and Gretel, and one granddaughter, Rachel Blackburn.

Souter was appointed a Member of theOrder of Australia(AM) in 1988,[4]and raised to Officer level (AO) in 1995.[5]He was awarded theCentenary Medalin 2001.[6]

List of works

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  • New Guinea: the Last Unknown,Angus and Robertson, 1963.ISBN0-207-94627-2
  • Sydney,Angus & Robertson, 1965.
  • Sydney Observed,Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1968 Cat. Card No. 62-25528 Registry No. 68-1817, Brio Books, 2017,ISBN978-1-925143-40-9
  • A Peculiar People: the Australians in Paraguay.Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1968.ISBN0-207-95037-7,Brio Books, 2012,ISBN978-1-922057-02-0
  • The Idle Hill of Summer: an Australian Childhood 1939-1945,Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1972.ISBN0-207-12370-5
  • Lion and Kangaroo: the Initiation of Australia 1901-1919,Collins, 1976.ISBN0-00-211445-3,Brio Books, 2017,ISBN978-1-925143-39-3
  • Company of Heralds: a Century and a Half of Australian Publishing by John Fairfax Limited and its Predecessors 1831-1981,Melbourne University Press, 1981.ISBN0-522-84218-6
  • Acts of Parliament: A narrative history of Australia's Federal Legislature,Melbourne University Press, 1988.ISBN0-522-84408-1
  • Heralds and Angels: the House of Fairfax 1841-1990,Melbourne University Press, 1991.ISBN0-522-84449-9
  • Mosman: a History,Melbourne University Press, 1994.ISBN0-522-84591-6,Brio Books, 2012,ISBN978-1-922057-05-1
  • A Torrent of Words: Leon Gellert: a Writer's Life,Brindabella Press, 1996, Brio Books, 2012,ISBN978-1-922057-03-7
  • Lucinda: A memorial for the Centenary of Federation, The Spit, Mosman,Mosman Municipal Council, 2001,ISBN095936921X
  • Times & Tides: a Middle Harbour Memoir,Simon & Schuster, 2004.ISBN0-7318-1224-7,Brio Books, 2012,ISBN978-1-922057-04-4
  • (Unpublished MS, held by the National Library of Australia:Cocos. A History of the Clunies-Ross Family.Commissioned by John Clunies-Ross)

References

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Citations

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  1. ^"Panscript".Archived fromthe originalon 11 March 2018.Retrieved1 June2009.
  2. ^Philip O'Brien, "Spinning words of gold",The Canberra Times,26 February 2000, Panorama, p. 12
  3. ^abcd"text publishing".Archived fromthe originalon 18 September 2009.Retrieved1 June2009.
  4. ^ It's an Honour: AM
  5. ^It's an Honour: AO
  6. ^It's an Honour: Centenary Medal

Sources

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