Reviewed by Ross Fitzgerald
This biography of Melbourne-born World War II secret agent Bruce Dowding is a fascinating portrait of a remarkable young Australian whose story was previously unknown to me. Secret Agent, Unsung Hero is co-authored by Dowding’s nephew, lawyer and former Western Australian ALP Premier Peter Dowding, and wide-ranging author Dr Ken Spillman. As it happens, Ken was a student of mine. Later, we were contributing co-editors of The Greatest Game, a ground-breaking collection of writing about Australian Rules football, first published in 1988.
It is lucidly written and replete with useful black-and-white illustrations, but …
By Ross Fitzgerald
A retired schoolteacher from Adelaide with a PhD from Flinders University, Peter Brune is a brilliant scholar who has previously published eight books about Australian military history. When I was one of the judges, his 2014 Second World War history Descent into Hell was shortlisted for the 2015 Prime Minister’s Prize for Non-Fiction. As with most of his work, Suffering Redemption and Triumph has been edited by the extremely capable Neil Thomas. Unusually, Thomas also played a key role in its publication and is currently involved in its …
By Ross Fitzgerald
Although I disagree with the federal Coalition about some key policies, I do support Peter Dutton’s proposed gambling advertising bans.
In particular, I applaud the proposal of stopping all gambling advertising during sporting events in Australia, including half and quarter time breaks, and also from an hour before the start of live sporting events to an hour after such widely watched events.
Hence, I urge prime minister Anthony Albanese and the federal ALP government to work cooperatively with the Coalition and some members of cross-bench, and implement these much-needed policies.
Most …
NSW STATE MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR JOHN OLSEN, MONDAY 29 MAY 2023 ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Some words from MC Michael Yabsley:
“We are here to honour the memory of Dr John Olsen AO OBE, a man of talent, charisma, generosity, and humility. He was a master of the brush, a truly great explorer and interpreter of everything from beloved massive Australian landscapes to, in the words of his friend, Professor Ross Fitzgerald, “the chaotic splendour of his own kitchen.”
As Prof Fitzgerald wrote about John, his son Tim Olsen often talked …
Final portrait of an artist and old friend
The legendary Australian artist John Olsen with history professor and old friend Ross Fitzgerald. Photo by Tim Olsen.
By ROSS FITZGERALD
A state memorial for my friend, the great Australian artist John Olsen, will be held on May 29 at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney.
Olsen told me last year that he hoped to die like Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who on his last day painted his final picture, put down the brushes, sighed and said: “I think I’m beginning to learn something now.”
I …
It was pleasing to read Andrew Horner’s correction of Oscar Humphries’ claim that the family’s choice of Sydney over Melbourne for Barry Humphries State Memorial wasn’t a repudiation of his own hometown. ( ‘Humphries’ request to ‘snub’ Melbourne’, May 13.)
As a friend of 61 years, I can attest that it is true that Barry was saddened by the increasingly woke Melbourne Comedy Festival removing his name from the event he co-founded, and disappointed that the Victorian government didn’t intervene.
But there is more to the story. In recent years, Barry often …
Barry Humphries and I drank together and got sober together
Ross Fitzgerald and Barry Humphries at Sydney’s Catalina restaurant in 2019.
Barry Humphries and I were friends for more than 60 years.
We first met at the Notting Hill Hotel, which was the nearest pub to Melbourne’s Monash University where I was then an often drunk student.
Barry and I drank together and got sober together.
In late 1969 we were both admitted to a suburban Melbourne alcoholic and drug addiction hospital called Delmont. The wonderful lead psychiatrist there, Dr John Moon, was a strong …
GRAFTON EVEREST MEETS THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAYThe Lowest Depths by Ross Fitzgerald & Ian McFadyenHybrid Publishers, Melbourne 2021RRP: $24.99 (pb)Reviewed by Alan GregoryGraham Green’s term “An Entertainment”, probably best sums up this beautifully produced book.The Lowest Depths is a very good read, with equal elements of a socio-politico farce and of a spy thriller, plus a touch of sci-fi!As with its predecessor, The Dizzying Heights, this book featuring Dr Professor Grafton Everest is written by two Melbourne High School old boys – Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen. Ross Fitzgerald AM is …
COLD WAR AND ITS SECRETS
THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE FIVE EYES: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPY NETWORK
By Richard Kerbaj.
Blink Publishing
RRP $34.99
Reviewed by Ross Fitzgerald
COLD WAR AND ITS SECRETSThe Sydney Institute Review, 29 March 2023, Issue 25THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE FIVE EYES: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPY NETWORKBy Richard Kerbaj.Blink PublishingRRP $34.99Reviewed by Ross FitzgeraldRecently released in the United Kingdom, Richard Kerbaj’s, ‘The Secret History of The Five Eyes: The untold story of the international spy network’ is a fascinating account of the Western world’s most powerful, …
One does tire of celebrity reprobates. A fast way to attract attention and build a “profile” in our lazy society is to write about one’s appalling behaviour towards others. Its acceptability enables a form of confession and avoidance, and, if properly promoted and garnished with a veneer of bohemianism, it is more like confession and appointment to the firmament of New Idea idolatry. Attention, advertisement, writers’ festivals, prizes, perhaps even honours, await. The best way of avoiding the consequences of victimising others is to become a victim yourself. The people on the …
ROSS FITZGERALD
THE YOUNG MENZIES
Success, Failure, Resilience 1894–1942
edited by Zachary Gorman.
Melbourne University Press, 2022
224 pages, $49.95
After a brilliant career at the Melbourne bar in the 1920s and a period as Victoria’s Attorney-General, Sir Robert Gordon Menzies eventually became the most towering federal parliamentarian ever seen in Australian politics. But up to now, few books, even including Allan Martin’s magisterial two-volume biography, published in 1993 and 1999 respectively, have dealt in any length or clarity with Menzies childhood, personality, and early adulthood.
The Young Menzies: Success, Failure, …
