Michael John Noonan (19 September 1921, in

Sumner Sumner may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Sumner, a mountain in the Rare Range, Antarctica * Sumner Glacier, southern Graham Land, Antarctica Australia * Sumner, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane New Zealand * Sumner, New Zealand, seaside su ...

, near

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand – 4 March 2000, in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

) was an Australian / New Zealand novelist and radio script writer. He also created the Australian TV series ''

Riptide A rip tide, or riptide, is a strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide. It is a strong tidal f ...

''. Noonan served with the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initia ...

in New Guinea during World War II. He moved to England in 1957 but returned frequently to Australia and returned there to live in Brisbane in 1979. Noonan was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 1998 Australia Day Honours for "service to the arts as an author of numerous novels, works of non-fiction, television scripts and plays". The beach, his favourite place, inspired most of his books. He spent the last years of his life living in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. IN 1993 he married Jan Pearce (d. 2010).

Works

*1946: ''In the land of the talking trees: a fantasy'' *1947: ''The golden forest: the story of Oonah the platypus'' *1959: ''The patchwork hero'' (translated into Polish and German) *1961-1969: The Flying Doctor Series: **1961: ''Flying Doctor'' (also translated into German, French, Dutch, Portuguese) **1962: ''Flying Doctor and the secret of the pearls'' (translated into German) **1962: ''Flying doctor on the Great Barrier Reef '' (translated into German and Polish) **1964: ''Flying doctor shadows the mob'' (translated into German) **1965: ''Flying doctor hits the headlines'' (translated into German) **1969: ''Flying doctor under the desert'' (translated into German) *1963: ''December Boys''; made into a film of the same name released in 2007. *1967: ''Air taxi'' (translated into Polish) *1969: ''The pink beach'' *1973: ''The sun is God'' - biographical fiction about J. M. W. Turner *1978: ''The invincible Mr Az'' *1982: ''Magwitch'' *1983: ''A different drummer: the story of E.J. Banfield, the beachcomber of Dunk Island'' *1987: ''McKenzie's boots'' - listed as one of the Best Books for Young Adults of 1988 by the American Library AssociationUniversity of Queensland book blurb for ''McKenzie's boots''
*1995: ''In with the tide: memoirs of a storyteller'' -

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English p ...

References

1921 births 2000 deaths Australian male novelists New Zealand male novelists Australian military personnel of World War II Australian radio writers 20th-century New Zealand novelists New Zealand emigrants to Australia 20th-century New Zealand male writers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia {{australia-writer-stub