Christopher Pearson (28 August 1951 – 7 June 2013) was an Australian journalist and conservative commentator who wrote for national
broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...
''
The Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
'' and who for many years before had edited a monthly cultural magazine, ''
The Adelaide Review''.
Biography
Born in
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 Mountain ...
on 28 August 1951, Pearson spent most of his life in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
. He received a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
with Honours (third-class) from
Flinders University
Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...
as well as a Graduate Diploma in Education from the
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
.
[ The topic of his honours thesis was Australian author ]Patrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987.
White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, ...
.
He had left-wing leanings as a student, before becoming an admirer of the social democratic politics of Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...
and Paul Keating. He then moved to the right, voting for John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
in 1996.[
As proprietor of the ''Adelaide Review'', he bought the name of the Wakefield Press from the South Australian government and operated the company from 1986 to 1988.]
Pearson wrote occasional articles for a wide range of newspapers, including '' The Herald'', ''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'', and ''The Courier-Mail
''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, ...
'', through the 1980s and 1990s. He was a regular columnist for the ''Australian Financial Review
''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...
'' between 1997 and 2001, before moving to the ''Weekend Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
''. In this paper he wrote commentary and articles that covered a wide variety of cultural and religious matters pertaining to Australian society.[
He was a member of the Council of the National Museum of Australia in 2005/6. He was also on the board of the government-owned SBS television station. He served as a speechwriter to Howard, who served as ]Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
from 1996 to 2007, and was a close friend and mentor to another Prime Minister, Tony Abbott (2013–2015), whose books he also edited.
Pearson died in Adelaide on 7 June 2013.[ Tony Abbott was a pall-bearer at his burial.
]
Works
While Pearson left a large footprint with regard to the publishing of other authors via Wakefield Press, he himself published no monograph
A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject.
In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
s. His most significant work is an essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
, "The ambiguous business of coming out" (1996), which was published in Peter Coleman's collection called ''Double Take''.[
In a September 2009 piece in ''The Australian'', Pearson wrote about how he reconciled his homosexuality with his Catholicism. He had converted to Catholicism in 1999,] by which time he had committed to a life of chastity.[
A selection of Pearson's writings, edited by ]Nick Cater
Nicholas Charles Cater is a British-born Australian journalist and author who writes on culture and politics. He is a columnist for ''The Australian'' newspaper.
Early life and education
Cater was born in Billericay, Essex, and grew up in Hyth ...
and Helen Baxendale, was published in 2014 under the title ''A Better Class of Sunset'', with introductions by Abbott and Jack Snelling
John James "Jack" Snelling (born 8 November 1972) is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Playford from the 1997 election until his retirement in 2018. Snelling left the Labo ...
, both of whom had previously written or spoken admiringly of his work.
References
Further reading
* About his friendships with Tony Abbott, Jack Snelling
John James "Jack" Snelling (born 8 November 1972) is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Playford from the 1997 election until his retirement in 2018. Snelling left the Labo ...
and others, and how he changed his will.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Christopher
1951 births
2013 deaths
Australian columnists
Australian journalists
Speechwriters
Australian Roman Catholics
LGBT journalists from Australia
Australian gay writers
Flinders University alumni
21st-century LGBT people