Maxwell Edgar Fatchen, AM (3 August 192014 October 2012) was an Australian

children's writer Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

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 journalism ...

Colin and Rhonnie Thiele with Max Fatchen 2000

Early life

Fatchen was born at "Narma" private hospital,

South Terrace, Adelaide South Terrace is one of the four terraces which bound the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It is the southern edge of the city centre, and is bounded by the Adelaide parklands to the south, including Veale Gardens and ...

, the only son of Cecil William Fatchen and Isabel Harriet Fatchen, née Ridgway, of "Garowen", Angle Vale. He spent his childhood on an

Adelaide Plains The Adelaide Plains (Kaurna name Tarndanya) is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast (Gulf St Vincent) on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of Ad ...

farm at Angle Vale. He learned to drive a team of

Clydesdale horse The Clydesdale is a Scottish horse breed, breed of draught horse. It is named for its area of origin, the Clydesdale (district), Clydesdale or valley of the River Clyde, much of which is within the county of Lanarkshire. The origins of the br ...

s and did part of his secondary school studies at home, driving his horse and buggy once a week to

Gawler High School Gawler and District College is a public early learning centre and primary and secondary school located in the suburb of Evanston on the southern side of Gawler, north of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. The col ...

to have his papers corrected.

Career

He entered journalism as a

copy boy A copy boy is a typically young and junior worker on a newspaper. The job involves taking typed stories from one section of a newspaper to another. According to Bruce Guthrie, the former editor-in-chief of the ''Herald Sun'' who began work there ...

, and after five years in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

and

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

during

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 became a journalist with '' The News'' and later '' The Advertiser''. He covered many major stories in Australia and overseas. Four decades of writing for children, especially those of primary school age, began in 1966 with ''The River Kings''. His children's poems, such as "Just fancy that", remain popular. He wrote 20 books; his novels appear in seven countries, and his poetry appears throughout the English-speaking world. ''The River Kings'' and ''Conquest of the River'' were the basis for a TV mini-series, '' The River Kings'', in 1991.

Later life

He died on 14 October 2012 in his sleep.

Honours and legacy

*Three of his books received commendations in the Children's Book of the Year Award. *Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

in 1980. *

Advance Australia Award The Advance Australia Foundation (AAF) was established in 1980. The AAF recognised "individuals or groups who have made outstanding contributions to the growth and enhancement of Australia, the Australian people and the Australian way of life". I ...

for literature in 1991. *

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

for journalism in 1996. *Primary English Teaching Associations Award for children's poetry in 1996. *"SA Great" Award for Literature in 1999. * Centenary of Federation Medal in 2003 for service to the community in journalism, poetry, and writing for children. *Inaugural Life Member of the SA Writers Centre in 2004 for long years of support, encouragement, and ambassadorship for the Centre. * Max Fatchen Drive in Angle Vale and the Max Fatchen Expressway ( also known as the Northern Expressway ) are named after him. * The Max Fatchen Fellowship was named to celebrate his achievements and commitment to children’s literature and the local writing community. It is open to South Australian writers for young people.

Bibliography

;By Max Fatchen *''The River Kings'' (1966) novel set on River Murray paddle steamer in early 20th century *''Flodens Konger'' (1966) ''The River Kings'' translated into

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

*''Conquest of the River'', illustrated by Clyde Pearson, published Methuen & Co. (1970) :Note: This and ''The River Kings'' above were the basis of the 1991 television series ''The River Kings'' *''The Spirit Wind'', illustrated by Trevor Stubley, published Methuen (1973) novel set in outback South Australia Also available in braille edition *''Time Wave'', illustrated by

Edward Mortelmans Edward Mortelmans (1915–2008) was an English artist and illustrator. His primary modes of expression were watercolor and black and white line drawings. He is best known for illustrating some books by Gerald Durrell, and covers for books by Edg ...

(1978) novel for children *''Songs for My Dog and Other People'', illustrated by Michael Atchison Penguin Books (1980) *''Closer to the Stars''; publisher Methuen (1981), republished Puffin Books (1983) novel set in wartime 1941 *''Wry Rhymes for Troublesome Times'' (1983) 2nd ed. Puffin Books (1985) *''Chase through the night''; illustrated by Graham Humphreys, publisher Methuen (1983) novel set in outback Queensland *''Forever Fatchen'', Advertiser Newspapers Ltd. (1983) *''A Paddock of Poems'' Penguin Books Australia (1987) *''Had Yer Jabs?'' Methuen Australia (1987) collection of short stories for children *''A Pocketful of Rhymes'', Penguin Books Australia (1989) *''A Country Christmas'' illustrated by Timothy Ide (1990) *''The Country Mail is Coming'' (1990) poems reminiscing about growing up in country South Australia *''Peculiar Rhymes and Lunatic Lines'' ed. Naia Bray-Moffatt, illustrated by Lesley Bisseker, publisher Orchard Books (1995) *''Mostly Max'', illustrated by Michael Atchison, Wakefield Press (1995) selected from 50 years of Fatchen's columns in '' The Advertiser'' *''Australia at the Beach'' illustrated Tom Jellett (1999) *''Songs for My Dog and Other Wry Rhymes'' illustrated by Michael Atchison, Wakefield Press (1999) :Note: This may be a revised edition of ''Songs for My Dog and Other People'' (1980) above *''The Very Long Nose of Jonathan Jones'', illustrated by Craig Smith, ABC Books (2000) humorous story told in verse *''Terrible Troy'', illustrated by Stephen Axelsen, ABC Books (2000) humorous stories told in verse *''Poetry All Sorts: The Max Fatchen Reciter'', illustrated by Christina Booth, Triple-D Books (2003) *''Meet the Monsters'', illustrated by Cheryll Johns, Omnibus Books (2004) rhyming picture book ;As co-author or contributor *''Soundings: Poetry and Poetics'' proceedings of the Third Biennial National Conference on Poetry, Adelaide, 7–9 November 1997 / edited by Lyn Jacobs and Jeri Kroll, publisher Wakefield Press (1998) *''Tea for Three'' with

Colin Thiele Colin Milton Thiele AC (; 16 November 1920 – 4 September 2006) was an Australian author and educator. He was renowned for his award-winning children's fiction, most notably the novels '' Storm Boy'', '' Blue Fin'', the '' Sun on the Stubble'' ...

, illustrated by Craig Smith, published Harcourt Education (1993) *''Are You in There?'' with Rosaleen Stewart, illustrated by Mitch Vane (2004) *''Tadpoles in the Torrens: Poems for Young Readers'' (2013) ed. Jude Aquilina; poems by Christobel Mattingley, Janeen Brian, Max Fatchen, Peter Combe, and Sean Williams ;Biography Andrew Male ''Other Times'' Wakefield Press, Adelaide (1997) includes selections from Max's writings, many not previously republished

References

External links

Profile
at

The Adelaide Advertiser ''The Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid format newspaper based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named ''The South Australian Advertiser'' on 12 July 1858,State Library of South Australia library guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatchen, Max 2012 deaths 1920 births Australian children's writers Members of the Order of Australia Walkley Award winners Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force officers Australian Army soldiers Writers from Adelaide 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets People from Gawler, South Australia 20th-century Australian male writers Australian Army personnel of World War II