Leslie Allen Carlyon (10 June 1942 – 4 March 2019) was an Australian writer and newspaper editor.

Early life

Carlyon began his career in journalism with ''

The Herald and Weekly Times The Herald and Weekly Times Pty Ltd (HWT) is a newspaper publishing company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is owned and operated by News Pty Ltd, which as News Ltd, purchased the HWT in 1987. Newspapers The HWT's newspaper interests date ba ...

'' as a cadet on the ''

Sun News-Pictorial ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' (known as ''The Sun'') was a morning daily tabloid newspaper published in Melbourne, Victoria, from 1922 until its merger in 1990 with '' The Herald'' to form the ''Herald-Sun''. ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' was part ...

'' (now the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

'') in 1960. In 1963, he moved to ''

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 ...

'' working successively as leader writer, finance editor, news editor, assistant editor and, in 1975 aged 33, editor, following the sudden death of the previous editor,

Graham Perkin Edwin Graham Perkin (16 December 1929 – 16 October 1975) was an Australian journalist and newspaper editor. Early life Perkin was born at Hopetoun, Victoria, elder son of Herbert Edwin Perkin, baker, and his wife Iris Lily, née Graham, bo ...

. Carlyon had to resign for health reasons in 1976 after just one year in the position. From 1977 to 1982, he was a visiting lecturer in journalism at

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

, Melbourne. During this time, he continued writing for newspapers across Australia with a particular focus on horse racing. In 1984, Carlyon returned to an executive role in journalism with his first employer, the ''Herald and Weekly Times'', where he was promoted to editor-in-chief. After resigning in 1986, Carlyon again continued as a freelance writer and columnist during the 1990s, contributing to such publications as the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'', Western Australia's ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' and '' The Bulletin''. Carlyon twice won the

Walkley Award 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 journalism (1971 and 2004). In 1993, he won the

Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award The Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award, often known simply as the Graham Perkin Award, is one of Australia's pre-eminent prizes for journalism. It was established and named in honour of Graham Perkin, who was editor of ''The ...

Books

In addition to his career as a journalist, Carlyon was also an accomplished author writing mainly on sport and Australian military history. His books include: * * * * * * ''Gallipoli'', a popular history of the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

Gallipoli campaign in the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

during the First World War (which remains a key event in the Australian and New Zealand national consciousnesses), was published in 2001, and met with critical and commercial success in Australia, New Zealand and England. The book was the basis for the Australian 2015 TV miniseries ''

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

'', released in the year of the 100th anniversary of the campaign. ''The Great War'' is the story of Australian forces on the Western Front in France and Belgium also during World War I. ''Les Carlyon: A Life in Words,'' published posthumously, is a collection of Carlyon's articles from across his career, selected by his family and with a foreword by his son, Patrick Carlyon.

Awards

In the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List, Carlyon was invested as a Companion of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AC), for "eminent service to literature through the promotion of the national identity as an author, editor and journalist, to the understanding and appreciation of Australia's war history, and to the horseracing industry". He was admitted to the Australian Media Hall of Fame. He served as a Member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial from May 2006 until his death (he was replaced by

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

). In April 2020, the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

announced the inaugural Les Carlyon Literary Prize in his memory.

Awards

for magazine feature writing 1971 *

1993 *

for journalism leadership 2004 *

Melbourne Press Club The Melbourne Press Club, commonly referred to as MPC, is a not-for-profit association of journalists in the city of Melbourne, Australia. The Melbourne Press Club provides awards in the State of Victoria for outstanding journalism, presenting th ...

Quill Award for Lifetime Achievement 2004 * Prime Minister's Prize for History 2007 (for ''The Great War'') *Companion of the

(AC) 2014

Death

Carlyon's death, aged 76, on 4 March 2019 was widely reported.

References

External links

*
‘Gallipoli in a Nation’s Remembrance’; Australian War Memorial Anniversary Oration by Les Carlyon; 11 November 2004
(transcript and audio)

30 June 2006 by

Andrew Denton Andrew Christopher Denton (born 4 May 1960) is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program ''Enough Rope'' and ...

on ABC television program ''

Enough Rope ''Enough Rope with Andrew Denton'' (often shortened to ''Enough Rope'') is a television interview show originally broadcast on ABC1 in Australia. The title of the show came from the phrase " give someone enough rope and they'll hang themselves ...

''
Transcript of interview by Tony Jones
25 May 2007 on ABC television program ''

Lateline ''Lateline'' was an Australian television news program which ran from 1990 until 2017. The program initially aired weeknights on ABC TV. In later years it was also broadcast internationally throughout Asia and the Pacific on the Australia Plu ...

''
Les Carlyon and Barrie Cassidy in Conversation: Writer Les Carlyon and sports journalist Barrie Cassidy talk about the interplay between sport and war.
This discussion, held at the

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...

on 19 August 2008, was part of the program of events for the Sport and War exhibition {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlyon, Les 1942 births 2019 deaths Australian editors Australian historians Australian military historians Australian people of Cornish descent Companions of the Order of Australia Academic staff of RMIT University University of Melbourne alumni Walkley Award winners Historians of World War I