David Vernon (born 1965 in Canberra, Australia) is an Australian writer and publisher. He has published several books relating to

scepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

and childbirth.

Biography

Vernon is the only son of Michael Vernon and Jeanette Vernon. He established two businesses while at University, ''Whiahwe Waiting Services'' that provided catering to diplomatic missions in Canberra, and ''MangoSoft'', a software development house. He graduated from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

with qualifications in political science and economics in 1988. He subsequently obtained a Graduate Diploma in Law from

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. U ...

and completed a Master of Environmental Science from

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian ...

. He was editor of ''Argos'', the Journal of the Canberra Skeptics from 1986 until 1991. He was assistant editor of the '' Australian Sinclair Gazette''. He later became a contributor to the journal of the

Australian Skeptics Australian Skeptics is a loose confederation of like-minded organisations across Australia that began in 1980. Australian Skeptics investigate paranormal and pseudoscientific claims using scientific methodologies. This page covers all Australia ...

, ''The Skeptic''. He writes occasional science articles for ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'' and also writes short stories for adults and children. He spent ten years working in the Australian Public Service, working in the Attorney-General's Department and the Environment Department before resigning in 2007. He was Chair of the Lyneham Primary School Board from 2008 to 2012. He was elected chair of the Gold Creek School in 2011 and Chair of

Gungahlin College The District of Gungahlin () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The Gungahlin Region is one of fastest growing regions within Australia. The district is subdivided into di ...

in 2015. He was elected member of the Board of the ACT Writers Centre in 2012 and in 2013 was elected Deputy Chair. . In 2014 he was elected Chair of the Centre. He co-edited the book ''Skeptical – A handbook of pseudoscience and the paranormal'' in 1989 with

Donald Laycock Donald Laycock (1936–1988) was an Australian linguist and anthropologist. He is best remembered for his work on the languages of Papua New Guinea. Biography He was a graduate of University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and later ...

Colin Groves Colin Peter Groves (24 June 1942 – 30 November 2017) was a British-Australian biologist and anthropologist. Groves was Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Education Born in Englan ...

and Simon Brown. In 2005 he released '' Having a Great Birth in Australia'', which examined the culture of childbirth and pregnancy in Australia. In 2006 his book ''

Men at Birth ''Men at Birth'' is a book from Australian writer David Vernon. The book is an edited anthology of birth experiences, written by men. The experiences described are diverse, ranging from caesarean births and VBAC births, to births that take pla ...

'' which chronicles men's experience of birth, was published. On 31 May 2007, '' With Women'' was released. He is currently working on ''The Hunt for Marasmus'' and a book about perinatal depression called ''Australians Talk – surviving perinatal depression.'' On 13 December 2007 his book ''Men at Birth'' was awarded Best Non-Fiction Book for 2007 in the ''2007 ACT Writing and Publishing Awards''''The Canberra Times'', 14 December 2007, p9 He is married to Barbara Vernon with two children.

References

*''Who's Who in Australia'', Information Australia Group, 1997 *''Lonely Beginnings for Fathers of the Revolution'', Danielle Teutsch, Sun Herald, 26 March 2006, p76
''Who Let the Dads In?'' The Age, 30 April 2006
*''Birth and Beyond'', Birth Resources Centre, Edinburgh, April 2006, p20

with

Richard Aedy Richard Aedy is an Australian journalist. He currently presents the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC Local Radio program Sunday Profile. He also presented the Radio National technology program "The Buzz" in 2001. Aedy presented "Life M ...

, ABC National, ''

Life Matters ''Life Matters'' is a radio program that has been broadcast on Radio National by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1992. The first presenter was Geraldine Doogue, and Hilary Harper and Michael MacKenzie present the program. Histor ...

'', 2 August 2006
''Rebirth of the Father''
Herald Sun, 1 September 2006
''Birth Rights for Men''
Sydney Morning Herald, 28 September 2006

Notes

Published works

*''Skeptical – A handbook of pseudoscience and the paranormal'', Don Laycock, David Vernon,

, Simon Brown (eds), Imagecraft, Canberra, 1989 *'' Having a Great Birth in Australia'', Edited by David Vernon, Australian College of Midwives, Canberra, 2005, *''

'', Edited by David Vernon, Australian College of Midwives, Canberra, 2006, *'' With Women'', Edited by David Vernon, Australian College of Midwives, Canberra, 2007, *''The Umbrella's Shade and other award-winning stories from the Stringybark Short Story Award'', Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2011, *''

'' 2nd Edition, Edited by David Vernon, Finch Publishing, Sydney, 2011, *''Between Heaven and Hell and other award-winning stories from the Stringybark Flash Fiction Award'', Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2011, *''Our Name Wasn't Written – A Malta Memoir – 1936–1943,'' by

Caroline Vernon Caroline Nellie Vernon (2 August 1908 – 7 May 1988) was a writer born in Woolwich, London, England to Emma Clark (née Pearce) and Frederick Clark. She married John Ernest Vernon, a writer in the Royal Navy in 1931. In 1936 she joined her husba ...

, Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2011, *''A Visit from the Duchess – and other award-winning stories from the Stringybark Speculative Fiction Award.'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2011, * ''Birth Stories – Real and inspiring accounts from Australian women'', Edited by David Vernon, Finch Publishing, Sydney, 2011, * ''The Heat Wave of '76 and other award-winning stories from the Stringybark Erotic Fiction Award'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2011, * ''The Bridge – 21 short stories from the Stringybark Fiction Awards'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2011, * ''Marngrook and other award-winning stories from the Stringybark Australian History Award'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2011, * ''Into the Darkness – One Young Australian's Journey from Sydney to the deadly skies over Germany 1939–1945'' by Arthur Hoyle, DFC, Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2012, * ''The Road Home and other award-winning stories from the Stringybark Short Story Awards'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2012, * ''Between the Sheets – seventeen short stories from the Stringybark Erotic Fiction Awards'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2012, * ''Tainted Innocence and other award-winning short stories from the Twisted Stringybark Award'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2012, * ''The Seven Deadly Sins and other award-winning stories from the Stringybark Seven Deadly Sins Short Fiction Award'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2012, * ''Write for Your Life'' Compiled by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2012, * ''Yellow Pearl – Eighteen short stories from the Stringybark Australian History Awards'', Selected and edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2012, * ''Tainted Innocence - and other award-winning short stories from the Twisted Stringybark Award'', Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2012, * ''Behind the Wattles - 77 award-winning short stories from the Stringybark Flash and Microfiction Awards,'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra. 2012 * ''Fight or Flight - 20 award-winning stories from the Stringybark Young Adult Short Fiction Awards.'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2013 * ''The Very End of the Affair - twenty-seven award-winning stories from the Stringybark Humorous Short Fiction Award,'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2013 * ''Hitler Did It - twenty-one short stories from the Stringybark Short Story Awards,'' Edited and selected by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2013, * ''Valentine's Day - twenty-three award-winning stories from the Stringybark Erotic Fiction Awards,'' Edited by David Vernon, Stringybark Publishing, Canberra, 2013,

External links

David Vernon's Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vernon, David 1965 births Living people Australian health activists Australian National University alumni Australian science writers Writers from Canberra Griffith University alumni University of Canberra alumni