Anne Barbara Deveson (19 June 1930 – 12 December 2016) was an Australian writer, broadcaster and filmmaker who also worked in England.
Early life
Deveson was born in
Kuala Lumpur,
Malaya
Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia:
Political entities
* British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
. During
World War II, her family was evacuated to
Western Australia as refugees before returning to England.
Her first job was on a small London newspaper called ''The Kensington News.''
She later worked in the London offices of the
BBC and ''
The New York Times''.
In 1956, Deveson moved back to Australia and began working for the
Australian Broadcasting Commission in Sydney.
Career
In the 1950s, Deveson was a presenter for radio station 2GB and was one of the first people in Australia to use talkback radio.
Deveson was known to many Australians as "the
Omo
Omo or OMO may refer to:
Geography Ethiopia
* Omo River (Ethiopia), in southern Ethiopia is the largest Ethiopian river outside the Nile Basin and namesake for all the topics below
* Omo Nada, one of the woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia
...
lady" after appearing in television commercials for that brand of soap powder.
Later in her career, she held a number of leadership positions in the industry: she chaired the
South Australian Film Corporation
South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972 to engage in film production and promote the film industry, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The Adelaide Studios are managed ...
from 1984 to 1987 and from 1985 to 1988, she was executive director of the
Australian Film, Television and Radio School.
Deveson was also an active lobbyist for the rights of women, children and disabled people. Following the diagnosis of her son Jonathan with
schizophrenia and his death from a drug overdose, she helped to start the
Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW in 1985. In 1986 she worked with Dr Margaret Leggatt to launch the national body Schizophrenia Australia Foundation, now named SANE Australia.
She was also a member of the Royal Commission into Human Relationships (1974–77),
NSW Medical Tribunal (1999–2010), Expert Advisory Group on Drugs and Alcohol (1999–2007) and the NSW Mental Health Tribunal (2002–07).
Deveson wrote about her experiences with her son's illness and death in ''Tell Me I'm Here'', which won the 1991
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission for non-fiction writing,
and then translated her work into the documentary film ''Spinning Out''. Simon Champ, SANE Australia Ambassador featured in this documentary. His pioneering work with Anne Deveson to bring the experience of Schizophrenia to the mainstream arena of mental health services dates from this collaboration and his meeting with Anne Deveson at a public event in which he stood up out of the audience to give voice to the experience of Schizophrenia. This work has had the effect of reducing stigma in Australia regarding this mental health issue.
Her book ''Resilience'' was written after the sudden death of her partner, the English economist
Robert Theobald
Robert Theobald (June 11, 1929 – November 27, 1999) was an American private consulting economist and futurist author. In economics, he was best known for his writings on the economics of abundance and his advocacy of a Basic Income Guarantee ...
, in 1999 and draws on her emotions and feelings.
Deveson was made a
Member of the Order of Australia in 1983 for services to the media and an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1993 for her work in community health and for increasing the public awareness of schizophrenia.
In 1994, she received an honorary doctorate from the
University of South Australia.
Personal life and death
Deveson was married to broadcaste
Ellis Blainfor twenty years.
The couple had three children: a daughter, the writer
Georgia Blain
Georgia Frances Elise Blain (12 December 19649 December 2016) was an Australians, Australian novelist, journalist and biographer.
Biography
Born in Sydney in 1964 to journalist and broadcaster Anne Deveson (d. 2016) and broadcaster Ellis Blain ...
(1964–2016), and two sons.
Following Ellis Blain's death in 1979, she had a long-term relationship with economist
Robert Theobald
Robert Theobald (June 11, 1929 – November 27, 1999) was an American private consulting economist and futurist author. In economics, he was best known for his writings on the economics of abundance and his advocacy of a Basic Income Guarantee ...
.
[Compass: Anne Deveson and Resilience - ABC TV](_blank)
ABC News Online, 29 February 2004, accessed 14 December 2016.
Deveson was diagnosed with
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
in 2014. She died on 12 December 2016, three days after the death of her daughter Georgia Blain.
Bibliography
* ''Australians at Risk'' (Cassell, 1978)
* ''Tell Me I'm Here'' (Penguin, 1991)
* ''Coming of Age: Twenty-one Interviews About Growing Older'' (Scribe Publications, 1994)
* ''Lines in the Sand'' (Penguin, 2000)
* ''Resilience'' (Allen & Unwin, 2003)
* ''Waging Peace'' (Allen & Unwin, 2013)
Filmography
* ''Who Killed Jenny Langby?'' (South Australian Film Corporation, 1974, acted as herself), a docudrama written by Greg Barker and Donald Crombie (producer).
* ''
Do I Have to Kill My Child?
''Do I Have to Kill My Child?'' is a 1976 Australian film
Plot
A young mother, Diane, questions in hindsight her choice to have another child. Out of emotional distress and frustration she begins to physically abuse her baby.
Cast
* Jacki Weav ...
'' (C.I.D. Productions, 1976, co-writer with Donald Crombie, producer)
* ''Achieving'' (Pilgrim International Films, 1979, writer) TV show produced by Betty Wood
* ''Spinning Out'' (Australian Film Commission, 1991, writer, director and producer)
''Paper Trails'' episode ''Compass'' (October 2017, Mental As Week, feature)
References
External links
* – includes full transcript of an interview by Robin Hughes for the TV program in 2004
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deveson, Anne
1930 births
2016 deaths
Australian expatriates in England
Australian non-fiction writers
Australian women writers
Members of the Order of Australia
Officers of the Order of Australia
Western Sydney University alumni
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
Writers from Western Australia
Deaths from dementia in Australia