Craig Rob Roy McGregor (12 October 1933 – 22 January 2022) was an Australian journalist, essayist, academic, cultural observer and critic.

Life and career

McGregor grew up in

Jamberoo Jamberoo is a village on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia in the Municipality of Kiama. It is approximately 11.3 km inland from Kiama. At the , Jamberoo had a population of 1,667. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal ...

and then

Gundagai Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Hon ...

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, before his family moved to Sydney. There he was awarded a scholarship to attend Cranbrook School, but he left at 16 to work at the '' Sydney Morning Herald''. He completed a degree at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

through night classes. He wrote books on Australian society, politics and popular culture, as well as two novels and a collection of short stories. He also wrote the script for a section of the 1973 film ''

Libido Libido (; colloquial: sex drive) is a person's overall sexual drive or desire for sexual activity. Libido is influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors. Biologically, the sex hormones and associated neurotransmitters that act u ...

'' and co-wrote the 1976 rock opera ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

''. He won two

Walkley Awards 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 his journalism: in 1977 for Best Newspaper Feature Story, and in 1986 for Best Feature in a Newspaper or Magazine. He met and interviewed

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

during his 1966 tour of Australia, and later edited the book ''Bob Dylan: A retrospective''. He has his own entry in ''The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia''. McGregor was Emeritus Professor of Visual Communication at the University of Technology, Sydney, where he taught between 1988 and 2000. He died on 22 January 2022, at the age of 88.

Books

* ''Profile of Australia'' (1966) * ''The High Country'' (1967) * ''People, Politics and Pop'' (1968) * ''To Sydney with Love'' (1968) * ''In the Making: Australian Art and Artists'' (1969) * ''Don't Talk to Me about Love'' (a novel, 1973) * ''Bob Dylan: A retrospective'' (editor) (1972) * ''Life in Australia'' (editor) (1972) * ''Up Against the Wall, America'' (1973) * ''The Great Barrier Reef'' (1974) * ''The See-through Revolver'' (a novel, 1977) * ''The History of Surfing'' (1983) * ''Soundtrack for the Eighties'' (1983) * ''Time of Testing: The Bob Hawke Victory'' (1983) * ''Pop Goes the Culture'' (1984) * ''Real Lies'' (short stories, 1987) * ''Headliners'' (1990) * ''Class in Australia'' (1997) * ''Australian Son: Inside Mark Latham'' (2004) * ''Left Hand Drive: A Social and Political Memoir'' (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Craig 1933 births 2022 deaths Australian journalists Australian essayists Australian male writers Male essayists People educated at Cranbrook School, Sydney The Sydney Morning Herald people People from New South Wales