Kenneth Bernard Cook (5 May 1929 – 18 April 1987) was an Australian journalist, television documentary maker, and novelist best known for his works '' Wake in Fright'', which is still in print five decades after its first publication, and the humorous ''Killer Koala'' trilogy.

Career

Born in the

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 Mounta ...

suburb of Lakemba, Cook attended

Fort Street High School , motto_translation = Each person is the maker of their own fortune , sister_school = Suginami Sogo High School, Tokyo, Japan , location = Parramatta Road, Petersham, Inner West Sydney, New South Wales , ...

. After leaving school he worked around Australia in a variety of jobs including laboratory technician, journalist and television documentary-maker, and boatshed operator. In 1966, with businessman

Gordon Barton Gordon Page Barton (30 August 19294 April 2005) was an Australian businessman and political activist. Biography He was born in Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) of a Dutch mother and Australian father. He showed his intelligenc ...

, Cook founded a new political party, the

Liberal Reform Group The Liberal Reform Group, later known as the Australian Reform Movement, was a minor Australian political party and predecessor to the Australia Party, which in turn was a predecessor to the Australian Democrats. It was founded by Gordon Barton, ...

. Cook was vehemently opposed to the Vietnam War, and stood (unsuccessfully) as an LRG candidate for the seat of

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

in the

1966 Australian federal election The 1966 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 26 November 1966. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition government, led by Prime Minister Harold Holt, won an ...

. A keen amateur

lepidopterist Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post- Renaissance, t ...

, Cook established the first butterfly farm in Australia on the banks of Sydney's

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...

in the 1970s. Several of Cook's novels were adapted for the screen. '' Wake in Fright'' was filmed in 1971 by

Ted Kotcheff William Theodore Kotcheff (born April 7, 1931) is a Bulgarian-Canadian film and television director, writer and producer, known primarily for his work on British and American television productions such as '' Armchair Theatre'' and '' Law & Or ...

, starring

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...

and

Gary Bond Gary James Bond (7 February 1940 – 12 October 1995) was an English actor and singer. He is known for originating the role Joseph in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', his performances ...

(released under the title ''Outback'' in Europe and the US). ''

Stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...

'' was filmed by Ross McGregor and Hans Pomeranz, also in 1971. In 1976 ''The Bushranger'' was made into a telemovie, starring

Leonard Teale Leonard George Thiele AO (26 September 192214 May 1994), professionally Leonard Teale, was a well-known Australian actor of radio, television and film and radio announcer, presenter and narrator known for his resonant baritone voice. He is be ...

John Hamblin John Reginald Hamblin (18 March 1935 – 21 September 2022), known affectionately as "Funny John" or "Naughty John", was a British-born Australian children's television presenter and actor of stage and screen who appeared in theatre productions ...

and

Kate Fitzpatrick Kerry Kathleen Fitzpatrick (born 1 October 1947) known as Kate Fitzpatrick, is an Australian television, film, and theatre actress. Early years Kate grew up in the Adelaide suburb of Dover Gardens, and it was in Adelaide that her love for cl ...

. Cook also wrote one episode of the Australian TV children's adventure series '' The Rovers'' (1970). In 2007 Cook's novel ''The Man Underground'' was adapted as a radio drama by ABC Radio National. A 72-minute audio interview with Cook by

Hazel de Berg Hazel Estelle de Berg (21 March 1913 – 3 February 1984) was a pioneer of oral history in Australia. Between 1957 and 1984 she produced 1291 hour-long sound tape reels of interviews with writers, historians, artists, musicians and scientists a ...

was recorded in 1972, in which he discusses his family, his work for the ABC, the background to ''Wake in Fright'', his ventures into film production and his novels. The interview is preserved in the collection of the National Library of Australia. He also wrote novels under the pseudonyms Alan Hale and John Duffy. Cook's literary estate is managed by Curtis Brown Australia.

Personal life

Cook was married to Patricia Hickie, with whom he had four children, Megan (an accomplished journalistic-style writer in her own right, as Megan GressorAustlit - Megan Gressor
/ref>), Kerry, Paul and Anthony. He and Patricia were subsequently divorced. Cook died of a heart attack in 1987, aged 57, while on a camping trip with his second wife,

Jacqueline Kent Jacqueline Frances Kent (born 1947) is an Australian journalist, biographer and non-fiction writer. She is also known as Jacquie Kent, the name she used when writing young adult fiction in the 1990s and sometimes writes as Frances Cook. Career ...

. Patricia Cook died suddenly in 2006; daughter Megan Gressor died unexpectedly from post-operative complications in 2007, aged 52; his youngest son Anthony, a prominent lawyer who was well known for his work with Indigenous Australians, killed himself in April 2009.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' Wake in Fright'' (1961) * ''Chain of Darkness'' (1962) * ''Vantage to the Gale'' (1963) as by "Alan Hale" * ''Wanted Dead'' (1963) as by "Alan Hale" - filmed as '' The Bushranger'' (1976) * ''The Take'' (1963) as by "John Duffy" * ''Stormalong'' (1963) * ''Tuna'' (1967) * ''The Wine of God's Anger'' (1968) * ''Piper in the Market-place'' (1971) * ''Bloodhouse'' (1974) * ''Eliza Fraser'' (1976) * ''The Man Underground'' (1977) * ''Play Little Victims'' (1978) * ''Pig'' (1980) * ''The Film-Makers'' (1983) * ''The Judas Fish'' (1983) * ''Fear is the Rider'' (2016)

Short story collections

* ''The Killer Koala'' (1986) * ''Wombat Revenge'' (1987) * ''Frill-Necked Frenzy'' (1987)

Non-fiction

* ''Blood Red Roses'' (1963) travel

References

External links

Kenneth Cook
summary by Jan Wositsky of program on Radio National (ABC)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Kenneth Australian film directors 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian male writers Australian male novelists 1929 births 1987 deaths 20th-century Australian journalists