Larry Writer Larry Writer i(A89473 works by)
Born: Established: 1950 Sydney, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Author and freelance magazine feature writer, Larry Writer co-authored Newk (2002), John Newcombe's autobiography, and Chrissy Amphlett's memoir, Pleasure and Pain (2005). He also wrote Razor (2001), the history of Sydney's notorious razor gangs which won the Ned Kelly Award for the best Australian true crime book of 2001, and Never Before, Never Again (1995), a memoir of growing up in the southern suburbs of Sydney as a fan of the great St George rugby league teams of the 1950s and '60s.

Writer was previously a senior journalist and editor at Time Inc. Australia and editor, writer and London bureau chief for Australian Consolidated Press. He co-founded Ironbark Press.

Source: The Book Abyss : Online Book Store website, www.thebookabyss.com.au (Sighted: 11/06/2008)

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Cecil Healy : A Biography Concord : Stoke Hill Press , 2018 14758819 2018 single work biography

'When John Devitt won Olympic 100-metre freestyle gold in 1960, his inspiration was Healy. He always wanted to write his hero's biography. Now, on the centenary of Healy's death, Devitt has joined with Larry Writer to produce an extraordinary tale of a man who was born to swim, earned sporting immortality but then sacrificed all. The book recalls Australia's first great era of swimming, our early Olympic achievements and the rise of the surf lifesaving movement. Healy helped organise the visit of Duke Kahanamoku to Australia in the summer of 1914-15, an adventure that inspired generations of board riders.

'Three years earlier, at the Stockholm Olympics, he refused to race in the 100 metres final unless the Duke, the race favourite, was also allowed to swim. The great Hawaiian had missed his semi-final, after a misunderstanding over the starting time. Cecil later won gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay, but it was his altruism that earned him a place in sport's highest pantheon. When John Devitt adopted his sporting hero, he could not have chosen a finer man.' (Publication summary)

2019 winner 'The Nib': CAL Waverley Library Award for Literature Mark and Evette Moran Nib Award for Literature Military History Prize
y separately published work icon Bumper : The Life and Times of Frank 'Bumper' Farrell Sydney : Hachette Australia , 2011 Z1772124 2011 single work biography 'Frank Bumper Farrell was the roughest, toughest street cop and leader of a vice squad Australia has ever seen. Strong as a bull, with cauliflowered ears and fists like hams, Bumper's beat from 1938 to 1976 was the most lawless in the land - the mean streets of Kings Cross and inner Sydney. His adversaries were such notorious criminals as Abe Saffron, Lennie McPherson, Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh and their gangs as well as the hooligans, sly groggers, SP bookies, pimps and spivs.

'Criminals knew just where they stood: he would catch them, he would hurt them, and then he would lock them away. He was a legendary Rugby League player for Newtown, and represented Australia against England and New Zealand.

'Here's Bumper Farrell in brutal, passionate and hilarious action . . . saving Ita Buttrose from a stalker; sparking a national scandal when accused of biting off a rival player s ear; beating Lennie McPherson so severely the hard man cried; single-handedly fighting a mob of gangsters in Kings Cross and winning; terrorising the hoons who harassed the prostitutes in the brothel lanes by driving over the top of them; commandeering the police launch to take him home to his beach home, diving overboard in full uniform and catching a wave to shore; dispensing kindness and charity to the poor. Bumper Farrell: lawman, sportsman, larrikin . . . legend.' (From the publisher's website.)
2011 nominated Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing Best True Crime
Last amended 7 Jul 2008 15:52:43
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