Maxwell MacAlister Brown (21 March 1916 – 19 September 2003) was an Australian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

Early career

Brown was born in Invercargill, New Zealand, and educated in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metr ...

. He worked as a journalist in Melbourne,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, as well as in country towns in N.S.W. and W.A. At one stage, he worked on the ''

Melbourne Argus ''The Argus'' was an Australian daily morning newspaper in Melbourne from 2 June 1846 to 19 January 1957, and was considered to be the general Australian newspaper of record for this period. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most ...

'' with fellow journalist and famous Australian novelist-to-be George Johnston, whose tumultuous marriage with writer

Charmian Clift Charmian Clift (30 August 19238 July 1969) was an Australian writer and essayist. She was the second wife and literary collaborator of George Johnston. Biography Clift was born in Kiama, New South Wales in 1923. She married George Johnston ...

would be the subject of Brown's last book. He also worked as a teacher, fitter and turner, wharf labourer and film publicist. He served in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

during the Second World War and used his

severance pay Severance may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Severance'' (film), a 2006 British horror film * ''Severance'' (novel), a 2018 novel by Ling Ma *''Severance'', a 2006 short-story collection by Robert Olen Butler * ''Severance'' (TV series), ...

to write ''Australian Son'', a highly regarded and sympathetic biography of

bushranger Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who used the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up " robbery unde ...

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

Writing career

After publishing ''Australian Son'' in 1948, Brown went on to write a number of other books, several dealing with aboriginal themes. His 1966 novel, ''The Jimberi Track'', tells the tale of harassment by white settlers and miners experienced by various aboriginal tribal peoples, including the Wongais in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He also published ''The Black Eureka'', an account of the

1946 Pilbara strike The 1946 Pilbara strike was a landmark strike by Indigenous Australian pastoral workers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for human rights recognition, payment of fair wages and working conditions. The strike involved at least 800 Abori ...

by Aboriginal and part-Aboriginal stockmen in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a g ...

, an iconic story in Aboriginal/European race relations which was also retold by Brown's friend, the author Donald Stuart in his award-winning novel '' Yandy''.

Works

* * * * * *

Last days

Towards the end of his life, Max Brown revised his first work, ''Australian Son'', and the updated edition was published posthumously after careful research into Brown's papers and manuscript by his friend Chester Eagle.Wilde, H. W., et al., ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'', Oxford University Press, 1994 He died in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vi ...

in September, 2003.

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Max 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists 1916 births 2003 deaths People from Invercargill Australian biographers Male biographers New Zealand emigrants to Australia Writers from Melbourne Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century biographers 21st-century Australian male writers 20th-century Australian journalists Royal Australian Air Force airmen

Early career

Writing career

Works

Last days

See also

Sources