Steve Hayes wrote: > On Mon, 26 Dec 2005 08:10:59 +1100, Paul Blair <pblair@pcug.org.au> wrote: > > >>Steve Hayes wrote: >> >>>I'm looking for genealogical and biographical information on Frderick Joseph >>>Thwaites (1908-1979), an Australian author. > > >>Jog along to www.nla.gov.au and opt for the catalogue. Then enter >>"Thwaites Frederick" for an author. There are many books listed. > > > Thanks very much - he seems to have been a fairly prolific novelist. Novels > sometimes say things in the blurb like "He lives in X with his wife, two > children and a cat". Actually I've now discovered that he was born and died in > Sydney. > > >>The library is closed for a few days, but it would be possible for me to >>visit, draw out some books, and see what they say. I'd bet there won't >>be much bio info, but you can only try. > > > Thanks very much, that would be good if it's not too much hassle. Maybe you > could ask the librarian if there's any biographical information available -- > they sometimes have compilations of things like "Great Australian authors". > > The National Library of Australia has some bio clippings - have photographed and forwarded to Steve. For such a prolific author, there is a quite surprising lack of info available about him. Paul

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 12:44:07 +1100, Paul Blair <pblair@pcug.org.au> wrote: >The National Library of Australia has some bio clippings - have >photographed and forwarded to Steve. Thanks very much, Paul. I received a number of responses by e-mail. One cited an article that referred to Thwaites as a counter-example to an an alleged Australian literary phenomenon called "the cultural cringe". http://www.the-rathouse.com/Another_look_at_the_Cultural_Cringe.htm I post it here in case anyone in rec.arts.books is interested. Paul's cuttings were very useful, and I reproduce one here, in case anyone is curious: -- begin quote -- THWAITES, AUTHOR OF 32 NOVELS The Australian author F.J. Thwaites died in a Sydney hospital on Monday. He was 71. Mr Thwaites, who wrote 32 novels and two travel books had been suffering from cancer for some time. His first book, The Broken Melody, which he wrote at the age of 17, was produced by Ken Hall as one of the earliest Australian films. Mr Thwaites was born of a working class family in the country town of Narrandera, where he worked on a milk run while at school. When the family moved to Gladesville, he was forced to leave school to support the family. He was then 13. During this time he studied at night at a technical college. After writing The Broken Melody, he toured the countryside trying to sell it. The first copy was exchanged for a new tyre for his car. His books, including Hell's Doorways, Shall Come A Time, and The Melody Lingers, have sold millions of copies. Some have been translated into several languages. While in South Africa about five years ago Mr Thwaites went almost blind from an infection. He was then driving from England to Australia. One of his last books, Press On Regardless, details this experience. Mr Thwaites is survived by his wife, Jessica, and his sons Peter and Roger. Mrs Thwaites appeared in several early Australian fims under her maiden name Jessica Harcourt. The funeral will be held at Northern Suburbs Crematorium at 10:30 am tomorrow. The urn containing his ashes will be taken to a cemetery at a later date. -- end quote -- >For such a prolific author, there is a quite surprising lack of info >available about him. Certainly there seems to be little on the web; this indicates that one cannot do genealogy using sources found on the Internet alone, though of course without Usenet newsgroups I would not have been able to find kind people like Paul who could go to the library and consult other sources. I would have expected something to be available in sources like the following: The Penguin New Literary History of Australia (Bennett et al., 1988) The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature (Wilde, Wh 1985) Anyway, this is just to say thanks to everyone who helped, and especially Paul who made a special trip to the library! -- Steve Hayes E-mail: hayesmstw@hotmail.com (see web page if it doesn't work) Web: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7783/

Not sure if this will complicate things, since you already have on clipping about where Thwaites was born, but www.imdb.com has that he wrote the screenplay for "Broken Melody" as F. W. Thwaites, and was born on 23 May, 1908 in Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales, and died 13, August 1979 in Manly, Sydney, New South Wales. Most of the time, the bio information on the site has the name or e-mail of who provided it, but not in this case, so it could be that the location of his birth is a fabrication, or best guess. Cathy Steve Hayes wrote: > On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 12:44:07 +1100, Paul Blair <pblair@pcug.org.au> wrote: > > >>The National Library of Australia has some bio clippings - have >>photographed and forwarded to Steve. > > > Thanks very much, Paul. > > I received a number of responses by e-mail. One cited an article that referred > to Thwaites as a counter-example to an an alleged Australian literary > phenomenon called "the cultural cringe". > > http://www.the-rathouse.com/Another_look_at_the_Cultural_Cringe.htm > > I post it here in case anyone in rec.arts.books is interested. > > Paul's cuttings were very useful, and I reproduce one here, in case anyone is > curious: > > -- begin quote -- > THWAITES, AUTHOR OF 32 NOVELS > > The Australian author F.J. Thwaites died in a Sydney hospital on Monday. He > was 71. > > Mr Thwaites, who wrote 32 novels and two travel books had been suffering from > cancer for some time. > > His first book, The Broken Melody, which he wrote at the age of 17, was > produced by Ken Hall as one of the earliest Australian films. > > Mr Thwaites was born of a working class family in the country town of > Narrandera, where he worked on a milk run while at school. > > When the family moved to Gladesville, he was forced to leave school to support > the family. He was then 13. During this time he studied at night at a > technical college. > > After writing The Broken Melody, he toured the countryside trying to sell it. > The first copy was exchanged for a new tyre for his car. > > His books, including Hell's Doorways, Shall Come A Time, and The Melody > Lingers, have sold millions of copies. Some have been translated into several > languages. > > While in South Africa about five years ago Mr Thwaites went almost blind from > an infection. He was then driving from England to Australia. One of his last > books, Press On Regardless, details this experience. > > Mr Thwaites is survived by his wife, Jessica, and his sons Peter and Roger. > Mrs Thwaites appeared in several early Australian fims under her maiden name > Jessica Harcourt. > > The funeral will be held at Northern Suburbs Crematorium at 10:30 am tomorrow. > > The urn containing his ashes will be taken to a cemetery at a later date. > > -- end quote -- > > >>For such a prolific author, there is a quite surprising lack of info >>available about him. > > > Certainly there seems to be little on the web; this indicates that one cannot > do genealogy using sources found on the Internet alone, though of course > without Usenet newsgroups I would not have been able to find kind people like > Paul who could go to the library and consult other sources. > > I would have expected something to be available in sources like the following: > > The Penguin New Literary History of Australia (Bennett et al., 1988) > The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature (Wilde, Wh 1985) > > Anyway, this is just to say thanks to everyone who helped, and especially Paul > who made a special trip to the library! >