George Neil Blaikie (5 May 1915 – 12 October 1995) was an Australian author and journalist. Blaikie was 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 ...

and educated at

Sydney Grammar School (Praise be to God) , established = , type = Independent, day school , gender = Boys , religious_affiliation = None , slogan = , headmaster = R. B. Malpass , founder = Laurence Hynes Halloran , chairman = ...

and

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. He joined ''

Smith's Weekly ''Smith's Weekly'' was an Australian tabloid newspaper published from 1919 to 1950. It was an independent weekly published in Sydney, but read all over Australia. History The publication took its name from its founder and chief financer Sir ...

'' in December 1931, after his bank manager father had impressed on ''Smith's Weekly'' owner Joynton Smith, a customer, what an asset the boy would be. Blaikie was still with the paper in October 1950 when it closed. Blaikie later worked for ''

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, ...

'' in Brisbane. His series ''Our Strange Past'' began in 1951 in ''

The Mail Mail is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. Mail or The Mail may also refer to: Newspapers * ''Daily Mail'', a British newspaper **The Mail on Sunday **MailOnline * ''Sunday Mail'' (Adelaide), formerly The Mai ...

'' as a continuation of the series ''Famous Disasters'' and in 1952 in '' The Western Mail'' and was syndicated across Australia. It ran for 34 years as feature in ''

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 ...

''. He also ran a feature "Great Women of History" in ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...

'' in 1982."Mata Hari – Exotic Dancer Turned Super-Spy"
11 August 1982 p.77

References

Bibliography

*''Scandals of Australia's Strange Past'' Rigby Ltd, Adelaide 1963 *''Skeletons From Australia's Strange Past'' Rigby Ltd, Adelaide 1964 *''Remember Smith's Weekly?'' Angus & Robertson Ltd, London 1967 *''Great Australian Scandals'' Rigby Ltd Adelaide 1979 *''Wild Women of Sydney'' Rigby Ltd, Adelaide 1980 *''Scandals Strange But True – Fascinating stories from Australia's incredible past'', John Fairfax Marketing, Sydney, 1984 *''Great Women of History'' John Fairfax Marketing 1984? 1915 births 1995 deaths University of Melbourne alumni People educated at Sydney Grammar School 20th-century Australian journalists {{Australia-writer-stub