Ross Fitzgerald
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Ross Fitzgerald
(1944- ), born Melbourne, educated at Melbourne High School, Monash University and the University of NSW (Ph.D. in political science), is a well-known historian (Griffith University, Queensland), political commentator, novelist and poet. Two of his novels, Pushed from the Wings (1986) and Busy in the Fog (1990), and a book of short stories, All About Anthrax (1987), record the misadventures of Grafton Everest, an academic at the fictional Bowen University of Queensland. Overweight, under-energetic except in pursuit of food and sex (whether 'oral, anal or solitary' is all the same to him), Everest is applauded or cordially hated by roughly equal proportions of readers and critics - 'brilliantly revolting' (Thomas Shapcott), 'a wonderful creation ... in the ranks of ... Portnoy and ... Lucky Jim' (Barry Humphries) and, by contrast, both he and the stories about him are 'much nearer Grafton than Everest' (John McGregor). Pushed from the Wings recounts several weeks in Everest's life while desperately hanging on for tenure in the Arts Department of a new Queensland University. All About Anthrax is a series of stories recounting Everest's Melbourne childhood and adolescence, and his academic years both in Australia and overseas. Most had appeared in magazines such as Quadrant, Westerly, Overland and the Cane Toad Times. In Busy in the Fog Everest has become dean of studies at Bowen University and presides over a situation rapidly slipping beyond repair. The Everest stories, written apparently as intellectual relaxation while Fitzgerald was researching his two-volume A History of Queensland (vol. 1 From the Dreamtime to 1915 in 1982; vol. 2 From 1915 to the 1980s in 1984), are brilliantly, savagely satirical of the halls of academe. Fitzgerald's more serious works include, in addition to the history of Queensland, What It Means to be Human (1978, essays in philosophical anthropology), The Sources of Hope (1979, philosophical perspectives edited by Fitzgerald), Comparing Political Thinkers (1980), Bligh, Macarthur and the Rum Rebellion (1988, with Mark Hearn), Labor in Queensland: From the 1880s to 1985 (1989, with Harold Thornton), and The Eleven Deadly Sins (1993), a collection of essays on human frailities edited by Fitzgerald, which includes contributions from such writers as Robert Dessaix, Rosemary Sorensen, Graham Little, Gerard Henderson and Blanche D'Alpuget. He has also published a book of poems, The Eyes of Angels (1973, in The Saturday Centre Poets Series) and edited (with Ken Spillman) The Greatest Game (1988), an anthology of verse, short stories and humorous anecdotes about Australian rules football.
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Ross Fitzgerald
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Ross Fitzgerald (born 1944) is an Australian academic, historian, novelist, secularist, and political commentator.
Author of 35 books, in 2009 Professor Fitzgerald co-authored "Made in Queensland: A New History", published by University of Queensland Press and also "Under the Influence, a history of alcohol in Australia", published by ABC Books. In 2010 Professor Fitzgerald published "My Name is Ross:An Alcoholic's Journey" and "Alan ('The Red Fox') Reid", both published by New South Books. In 2011, he co-authored "Austen Tayshus:Merchant of Menace", published by Hale & Ironmonger, Sydney, and "Fools' Paradise: Life in an Altered State", published by Press On/Arcadia in Melbourne.
Emeritus Professor of History and Politics at Brisbane's Griffith University, he was also the Queensland Chair of the Centenary of Federation. Fitzgerald currently writes a regular column for The Weekend Australian and reviews for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Weekend Australian. He appears on ABC Radio, ABCTV, and Channel 7.
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Career
He is currently a member of the New South Wales State Parole Authority, of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal, and of the NSW Government Expert Advisory Group on Drugs and Alcohol. After being a member of the Civics Education Group, he is currently a member of the Values Education Advisory Committee which involves advising the Minister of Education how best to facilitate the inculcation of values in Australian schools. During his time as Chair, Centenary of Federation Queensland, 1999-2002, he was actively involved in sourcing and overseeing a budget of $22 million and in co-ordinating all the celebrations and activities throughout the 12 regions of Queensland for the centenary of Australia's Federation in 2001.
As well as being Emeritus Professor, History and Politics and Adjunct Professor in the School of Arts at Griffith University, Ross Fitzgerald is also Conjoint Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Education and Arts at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Professor Fitzgerald's Ph.D from the University of New South Wales was in Political Theory.
Writings
He has published 35 books. Prof. Fitzgerald's most recent books are "Austen Tayshus: Merchant of Menace", "Fools' Paradise: Life in an Altered State", "My Name is Ross:An Alcoholic's Journey" and "Alan ('The Red Fox') Reid", both published in 2010 by New South Books, "Made in Queensland: A New History", published by University of Queensland Press and "Under the Influence, a history of alcohol in Australia", published by ABC Books, The Pope's Battalions: Santamaria, Catholicism and the Labor Split and Growing Old (Dis) Gracefully: 35 Australians Reflect on Life over 50. Other non-fiction works include The Federation Mirror: Queensland 1901-2001; Seven Days to Remember: The World's First Labor Government; Fred Paterson, The People's Champion - Australia's Only Communist Party Member of Parliament and Red Ted: The Life of E.G. Theodore, which was short-listed for the NSW Premier’s Prize and for the National Biography Award.
He co-authored Labor in Queensland; edited two best-selling collections, The Eleven Deadly Sins and The Eleven Saving Virtues. He has written several books about Australian Football and four works of fiction: Pushed from the Wings: An Entertainment; All About Anthrax; Busy in the Fog: Further Adventures of Grafton Everest; and Soaring.
Film work
He co-produced and edited the script for The Test an Indian-Australian feature film being produced with Jim McElroy at Fox Studios Sydney. He is also co-producer, with Peter Cherry, of Ho & Me (a movie about Wilfred Burchett and Ho Chi Minh) and, with Ian McFadyan, Kerensky and Nelle (a movie about Alexander Kerensky and Nell Tritton). Professor Fitzgerald is currently researching, A Nation Under the Influence, a written and visual history of alcohol in Australia.
Personal life
He lives in Sydney with his wife, Lyndal Moor, and their child Emily who is 29.
External links
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