Acclaimed Australian author Peter FitzSimons will visit Chermside Library this month to share the inspiring story of war hero Weary Dunlop.
The event will be held on Wednesday, 26 November, as part of the Brisbane City Council’s Lord Mayor’s Writers in Residence series.
Honouring Weary Dunlop’s Legacy
Peter will discuss his latest biography, The Courageous Life of Weary Dunlop, which tells the story of the Australian surgeon and prisoner of war who helped fellow captives survive the brutal conditions of the Thai-Burma Railway. Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop enlisted in the Australian Army Medical Corps in September 1939 and served across the Middle East before being captured by Japanese forces in 1942. While imprisoned, he risked his life caring for POWs forced into slave labour on the railway.
Peter said he was looking forward to sharing with readers “how truly stunning (Weary’s) heroism and humanity was on the Thai-Burma Railway.”
“In the midst of hell itself, he was the beacon, guiding his fellow Australians on how to harness their own ‘Australianness’ – the instinct to look out for each other – to get as many home as possible,” he said. “It, dinkum, made me proud to be an Australian.
“I have felt privileged to do this book, and hope it helps cast light on one of the darkest and yet most inspirational episodes in Australia’s military history.”
Peter FitzSimons is a bestselling non-fiction author and has nearly 40 years of experience as a journalist and columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Sun Herald. His works include histories such as Breaker Morant, Burke and Wills, Kokoda, Ned Kelly, Gallipoli, and biographies of notable Australians like Sir Douglas Mawson, Nancy Wake and John Eales.
Raised on a farm north of Sydney, he attended boarding school and Sydney University. A former Wallaby, Peter also lived and played rugby in France and Italy.
The Chermside Library event is part of his biggest book tour to date, which includes 30 events in 26 days, covering over 7,800 kilometres across the country – all to honour the legacy of Weary Dunlop.
“I love libraries,” Peter said. “They are community hubs of learning, of intellect, of the exchange of ideas. They are the intellectual campfire around which every town and serious suburb congregates.
“I always feel at home there.”
Entry is free, but bookings are essential.
The Courageous Life of Weary Dunlop is available at Hachette Australia.
Meet Peter FitzSimons
- Wednesday, 26 November, 5pm-6pm
- Chermside Library
- 375 Hamilton Road, Chermside.
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