Hard upon the news that Steve Irwin had passed away came the news that Colin Thiele had died today in Brisbane of heart failure. He was 85.
Colin Thiele was perhaps best known for the children’s book and film Storm Boy. I first met him in 1966 when I applied for a job at Wattle Park Teachers College where he was Principal. He chaired the interview panel. For most of the 18 months I worked there (during which time Mark was born and after which we moved back to Brisbane) Colin was on a Commonwealth Literary Fund fellowship to write a biography of Hans Heysen but was frequently around the place.
Later I met him several times when he was visiting Queensland schools.
He was born in Eudunda, went to school there and in Kapunda, the territory where my father was a boy. After he retired he moved to Queensland settling at Dayboro, a bit NW of Brisbane.
He was a bit of a smoothie, one of the nicest people you would hope to meet.
He was much decorated as you can see here. Wikipedia also has an entry which already notes his passing.
In his later years he suffered badly from arthritis, but it never seemed to dampen his cheerful disposition. His was a rich and full life.
Farewell and thank you Colin Thiele.
Hmm.. that’s very sad, and makes for a pause for reflection. Thiele showed us a different way of being Australian from that of Steve Irwin.
I was extremely lucky to read ‘ Storm boy’ in the sixties, travel to the Coorong in the seventies and meet Colin in person in the eighties. People like him add imeasurably to our existance and have a deep impact. So long Colin and love and best wishes to all family and friends.
Colin Thiele was a truly great person – one for the ages. RIP.
Lord, is there anything more sad than the cultural cringe? Most of us don’t actually need anyone to show us how to be Australian, MH. Irwin, Thiele – as the youngsters say, it’s all good.
Anyway, I loved Storm Boy. Sublime, it was. That work alone is a gift for which we should be thankful.
That’s a very good point, MH.
I was very moved by the film of Storm Boy when I was little.
Sun on the Stubble was a fantastic read as a kid, still laughing over parts of it. Never managed to read/watch/experience anything else of Colin Thiele’s work.
He also wrote great poetry.
I loved Storm Boy as a kid. One of the first movies I ever saw on the big screen: ‘Mr Percival! Mr Percival!’
Me too.
I was much sadder reading about Colin Thiele than I was about Steve Irwin. I’m actually really sad that his death has much less prominence. I adored Sun on the Stubble and Storm Boy. I actually pulled Sun on the Stubble out of the bookcase last night – think it is time for a re read.
I went to school in South Australia when Thiele was Director of Education. As such his books were practically required reading on the curriculum – Storm Boy, Blue Fin, The February Dragon, The Fire in the Stone. And through these books he brought the world of the Coorong, tuna fishing, bushfires and opal mining vividly alive for this pre-pubescent pre-teen. They are wonderful books, a glimpse into an Australia that vanished long ago. If ever there was a man who deserved a state funeral it would have to be Colin Thiele. Best of all, though, his books will live forever…
Cheers…
Mick, as a person he was an incessant story teller. So if he was in the staffroom there would be group around him and he would be telling a story. Some staff thought he lacked the necessary gravitas, but there was nothing wrong with his decisionmaking or leadership capacities as far as I could see.
Oh crap.
Crying in the workplace.
No writer ever meant as much to my childhood. I’m a better person for having his books in my life, no doubt about it.
Oh dear, FDB, here, have my hankie. Cup of tea, p’raps.
I know how you feel. The Sun on the Stubble was one of my older sister’s first-year high school textbooks that I used to pinch and read when she wasn’t looking. And to this day I can more or less remember the punch line, which was about the beautiful countryside 100k or so north of where I’m sitting now, and the image of those rolling golden paddocks as the embodiment of childhood, and the sadness of leaving it for ‘the great grey plains of adult life ahead.’
Or something like that. And — for someone whose childhood was also spent looking at the sun on the stubble — so it has proved to be.
Professor Rat:
I’ld like to second that motion.
Why is it that quiet stories like “Storm Boy” have such universal appeal?
Storm Boy was a childhood favourite and this is extremely sad news. I hope that Colin Thiele rests in peace.
Naomi:
Well put.
… and you’ve pricked by conscience – I neglected to include “Storm Boy” in my favorite films on my blog. (Off to fix that now)
There was a small but quite excellent segment on the 7.30 Report tonight on Colin Thiele. Seeing him in a school library talking to kids did it for me. The face of the girl closest to camera totally transfixed and engaged transported me back a few decades.
There was also a glimpse of Jim Dwyer, Supervisor of School Libraries in South Australia for many years, in the scene where Thiele was being presented with a patchwork quilt made by all the schools in SA.
Jim was a good friend and colleague in those days. From 1969 for 9 years I had the total privilege and good fortune to occupy the equivalent role in Queensland, where we worked on the policies, the provisions and the support systems that transformed the school library scene in Queensland on the flood tide of first Commonwealth and then Whitlam Schools Commission money and made scenes like those children in the library interacting with a real author possible.
I too posted something on my blog. http://highriser.blogspot.com/2006/09/do-yourself-favour.html
Thankyou Andrew. David Tiley also has an excellent entry at Barista.
Heh, a lot of us must be the same vintage.
First movie i remember seeing at the Drive-in with my parents in the golden Datsun 180B.
Three v. interesting aussies down this week.
The latter, I think for Steve Irwin.
I think Colin Thiele would have known he was in the home straight and must have felt a sense of satisfaction that came with such achievements and such a worthwhile life’s work.
Life Matters replayed a 2004 interview with Julie McCrossin this morning. Apparently he had seven joint replacements because of the arthritis. He must have had it when I knew him in the late 1960s but you would never have known.
I read somewhere that he’d had a significant heart operation in 2000.
Recently I lost one who was 92 and still driving a car. She had lost her husband just a few years ago, but just got on with her life, starting new projects until the end. At the same time she was trimming the ship and a few months before she died gave most of her books away. The last conversation we had was about what she was going to tell “them up there” when she got there.
I imagine Thiele would have had the same sense of resignation but would not have let it prevent him from being positive each day.
…. and there was a rebroadcast of an interview with Colin Thiele on this morning’s ABC Radio National “Life Matters”, towards the end; will be rebroadcast after midnight so you can listen from about 12:40amAEST all you fellow insomniacs. Not sure if “Life Matters” is podcast or if there will be a transcript.
Colin Thiele is a favourite writer for many of we baby-boomer generation (and also their off-spring). I recall hearing ‘Sun on the Stubble’ read in our classroom in year 6 and vividly remember, not only the humour of the stories, but also the anticipation in awaiting the next chapter to be read the following day.
I was visiting SA when Colin’s passing was broadcast. For several weeks we drove through and stayed in the Lower Flinders Ranges and I hoped to recapture some of this adolescent literary wonder and excitement. I scoured bookshops (both new and used) in a dozen towns and suburbs for a copy of this book however his works were almost unobtainable. I haven’t decided whether this scarcity was due to extreme demand or complete disinterest.
When I was returning to WA I was gratified to find an ex-school library copy (circa 1966) on sale in the op-shop in Norseman for two dollars. This copy is now doing the rounds in our family of three teenagers and will remain on our bookshelf for many years to come.
Cheers
H
Howard, I’m from the pre-BB generation, so I’m not up with the latest, but I imagine that bookshops would stock more current items. If books like Sun on the Stubble are still set in schools (and it well may not be) then it is likely to be still in print and a decent bookseller will order it in for you.
I did find when I googled Thiele’s Heysen biography that it was listed in a couple of second hand dealers, so it was no doubt out of print.
One thing I didn’t mention in comments was that I heard another radio segment where they described how Colin Thiele had meticulously planned his own funeral arrangements so that his family wouldn’t have to worry at that time of stress. He had even written an obituary for his wife, who hadn’t read it yet. He was a practical, well-organised man always thoughtful of others.