John Gunn (born 26 February 1925) is an Australian writer, sailor and aviator.

Education

Gunn attended

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

aged 12 in 1937.Newington College Register of Past Students 1863–1998 (Syd, 1999) pp 75 He entered the

Royal Australian Naval College The Royal Australian Naval College (RANC), commonly known as HMAS Creswell, is the naval academy of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). It consists of the RAN School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Kalkara Flight, the Beecroft Weapons Range an ...

as a cadet-midshipman in 1939. In 1946 he began training as a

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

pilot, serving in England and the Mediterranean. He returned to Australia in 1949 and attended

Sydney University 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 six ...

, aborting the study of medicine to start a family.

Career

Gunn and his young family moved to England, where he began his writing career. In 1957 they returned to Australia. He attained various positions including: *Literary guide and friend to the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

's children's programme. *Aviation correspondent 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 ...

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Wild Abyss'' (1972) * ''Water Hazard'' (1995)

Novels for children

* ''Barrier Reef Espionage'' (1955) * ''Battle in the Ice'' (1956) * ''Gibraltar Sabotage'' (1957) * ''

Sea Menace ''Sea Menace'' (1958) is a novel for children by Australian author John Gunn, illustrated by Brian Keogh. It was joint winner of the Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers in 1959. Plot outline At the time when William Bligh was Go ...

'' (1958) * ''Submarine Island'' (1958) * ''The Humpy in the Hills'' (1960) * ''Peter Kent's Command'' (1960) * ''Dangerous Enemies'' (1961) * ''City in Danger'' (1962) * ''Conquest of Space'' (1962) * ''The Goodbye Island'' (1963)

Edited

* ''Dangerous Secret'' (1960) * ''The Gold Smugglers'' (1962) * ''The Gravity Stealers'' (1965)

Drama

* ''Wren's Nest'' (1955) * ''Hildegard : A Play'' (1999)

Non-fiction

* ''Barrier Reef by Trimaran'' (1966) * ''Seaspay : The Spoils of War'' (1967) * ''Sailing and Ships for You'' (1957)

Awards

* 1959 – joint winner Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers for ''Sea Menace''

References

Australian non-fiction writers 1925 births Possibly living people English emigrants to Australia People educated at Newington College Graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College Fleet Air Arm aviators {{Australia-writer-stub