Today November 5, 2023 is Guy Fawkes Day.
On November 5, 1974, when I was four years sober, I met my darling wife and friend of 45 years, Lyndal Moor.
This occurred at a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney.
My longtime friend Barry Humphries had asked would I go there because Lyndal, who was living with his manager Clyde Packer, planned to attend her first AA meeting.
My first words to Lyndal after the meeting were, “If you only knew what could happen to you if you stay close …
He comes from a place that resembles Queensland and now Professor Ross Fitzgerald’s shambolic academic and former politician Grafton Everest is back in a new satirical novel and you will never guess what he’s up to now..
Author Ross Fitzgerald’s shambolic fictional character Grafton Everest back in a new novel and this time around he’s the boss of the world.
Grafton Everest is the shambolic former Australian independent senator recently elevated to become the first Australian Secretary-General of the United Nations. You didn’t hear about this?
Well then, you need to read about …
Friends, Here’s my review of Maz Compton’s Last Drinks.
Maz Compton, Last Drinks: How to Drink Less and Be Your Best, John Wiley & Sons, 2023, pp 240, ISBN 9781394184231, $32.95
ROSS FITZGERALD
Many Australians now realise that our booze-obsessed culture is extremely destructive. The murder, mayhem, individual, societal and family destruction that alcohol abuse leaves in its wake is, if you’ll pardon the pun, sobering.
When he died in April this year, my friend of 61 years, Barry Humphries, was 53 years sober. As with men and women from all walks of life, whether they …
Here’s the first review of Pandemonium. “This is the best Grafton Everest satire yet.” – Ken Spillman
Pandemonium
By Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen
Hybrid Publishers: Melbourne, $32.99
Review by Ken Spillman
The late Barry Humphries knew a thing or two about creating memorable characters. It’s notable, then, that the front cover of Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen’s latest collaboration, Pandemonium, quotes Humphries’ view that ‘Grafton Everest is a wonderful creation’.
And so he is. In this latest satire, the world-weary Grafton’s escapades stem from his baffling appointment as Australia’s first Secretary-General of the United Nations. …
Please spread the word about Paul Bugden’s excellent new play Stardust. It played to sell out houses as part of World Pride Sydney 2023.This production is part of The Sydney Fringe Festival playing at Flight Path Theatre, Marrickville.
More details: https://sydneyfringe.com/events/stardust/
Stardust | Sydney Fringe
sydneyfringe.com
Paul Bugden <bugdensbooks@bigpond.com>
Professor Ross Fitzgerald AM
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 …
