Max Colwell O.A.M.
10/10/1926 - 14/11/2012
Max
Colwell was a full time writer resident in South Australia. During
his long career he had thirty-five books published. His radio,
television and stage writing included dramatic plays, serials,
documentaries and features. In 1980 he formed his own publishing
company with his son David Colwell. They travelled extensively in
Australia and David’s photographs were included in several pictorial
histories such as Light’s Vision and Alice Springs, Ayers Rock and the Olgas,
and Heritage Preserved with the National Trust of S.A.
Max Colwell was born in 1926 in West Street
Brompton in South Australia, and educated at the Hindmarsh and Blair
Athol Primary Schools and the Adelaide Technical High School. His old
home at 28 West Street Brompton still stands opposite the site of the
pughole which figured so strongly in his novel Half Days and Patched
Pants, the first book of his famous trilogy.
He began work at fifteen years of age in a
wholesale grocery warehouse where he remained for eighteen years. The
warehouse was the setting for a large part of the second book in Max’s
trilogy called Full Days and Pressed Pants.
From October 1944 he spent two years in the
Armed Forces and his experiences in the army form the background of the
third book of his trilogy called Glorious Days and Khaki Pants. He
married in November 1948 and shortly after became involved in Blind
Welfare work in Adelaide. He transcribed numerous books into Braille
for blind students and later became instructor in Braille at the Maughan
Church Community Centre. His students became the mainstay of an
organization which supplied Braille text books for blind students
wishing to attend sighted schools.
When Helen Keller, the American blind social
worker, visited Australia Max worked with her for four days and helped
to enlarge and commit Australian organizations to broaden the
opportunities for blind people. He wrote several articles on the
subject and assisted in forming an organization to train seeing eye dogs
in Australia.
In 1960 he left the grocery trade to become a
journalist on the children’s newspaper “The Young Australian” where he
was responsible for its fiction and Australian history content.
Leaving Australia in 196l with his family, he gained a contract with the
British Broadcasting Corporation to write a series of dramatized radio
features on life in Australia. His work was also broadcast in New
Zealand and South Africa, and regularly over Radio Australia to Asian
countries.
In 1977 Max Colwell was awarded a One-Year
Fellowship by the Australia Council to enable him to complete two
novels.
When television was introduced in
Australia Max was one of the first to submit his work which included
comedy sketches and scripts to children’s programmes in Adelaide South
Australia.
In 1994 Max Colwell was awarded the
Order of Australia Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for
Service to Australian Literature not only as recognition for his many
books, radio and television work but for his countless years of
mentoring and encouraging dozens of young writers, many of whom went on
to become successful established authors.
Max Colwell O.A.M.
10/10/1926 - 14/11/2012
Author of 35 books, radio drama,
serials, school plays.
HOME PAGE. MAX COLWELL autobiography.
PICTURE GALLERY.
BOOKS-MAX COLWELL. ALLEN LYNE
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