Launch of The Ascent of Everest : The Outrageous Adventures of Grafton Everest by Ross Fitzgerald & Ian McFadyen.(Hybrid Publishers, Melbourne, $49.99)
The Olsen Gallery Woollahra, Sydney 6pm May 9, 2024.
Tuesday morning, when I was stumbling around Surry Hills, a middle-aged woman asked: “Are you Professor Fitzgerald, author of the Grafton books?”
After I responded “Yes”, she said , “You look much better on the television!”
When, as many people do, she then inquired, “Is Grafton you?”, I responded : “Of course not. He’s what I could become if I let myself go!”
But …
The #MeToo predictor: How Grafton Everest is always one step ahead
Who knew when Prof Ross Fitzgerald created his fictional character Grafton Everest to satirise Queensland politics and academia that Grafton would go on to conquer the world in novels that predict waves of key events.
We find it fascinating that however fanciful the satire, it so often gazumped by political and academic reality.
The first Grafton novel, Pushed From The Wings (1986) predicted the rise of the Me-Too movement in academia and the growing dependency of universities on full fee-paying foreign students.
In Busy in the …
Fred Paterson & the St Patrick’s Day Bash
When the ‘people’s champion’ got walloped
Fred Paterson… on March 17 1948, Australia’s only Communist Party MP Fred Paterson was smashed from behind by a Queensland policeman.
By Ross Fitzgerald
As we approach St Patrick’s Day, politically aware readers should know that in Brisbane on March 17 1948, Australia’s only Communist Party MP Fred Paterson was savagely smashed from behind by a Queensland policeman.
Prof Ross Fitzgerald.
Some time after it occurred, this attack on Paterson became known as The Great St Patrick’s Day Bash.
Yet most Australians, including a …
Friends FYI the first review of Rowan Dean’s bio of Barry H. cheers Roscoe 0419 661869
The last laugh: The unforgettable and irreplaceable Barry Humphries
Rowan Dean’s book about the late great Barry Humphries is as edifying as it is entertaining
Written by Phil Brown
Barry Humphries and Ross Fitzgerald lunching in Sydney – a photo from The Many Lives of Barry Humphries by Rowan Dean
Phil Brown
It’s still hard to believe that Barry Humphries has left the building (a euphemism for the planet) for good. Mind you, he had a pretty good innings. An …
Politicians at every level need to lose their booze
Ross Fitzgerald
Last week on Brisbane radio I briefly canvassed a proposal that all our state & federal parliamentary buildings should be alcohol-free zones.
At first glance, this might seem to be either outlandishly radical or an example of wowserism.
But it’s important to note that in 2024 many workplaces involved in critical decision-making processes are now required to be alcohol-free zones.
For example, health professionals throughout Australia are required to be alcohol and drug free at work.
Indeed a senior nurse at a major hospital informs …
Where there’s smoke, there’s a failed vaping policy
Ross Fitzgerald
Why has the ALP deserted its key constituency?
In the last decade, Australia has witnessed slow wage growth, higher inflation, mortgage stress, prohibitive energy prices and a rising cost of living. Yet the Albanese government has done little to alleviate economic and social pressures that especially bite in Labor electorates.
The revision of the stage three tax cuts may have somewhat improved Labor’s standing following the rejection of the Voice referendum in 2023. But the Albanese government remains under huge pressure, and not just about …
Days of drunken pollies and urinating in the chamber
ROSS FITZGERALD
Like many people, I have been following the Barnaby Joyce story with interest. Perhaps more interest than some, for a number of reasons.
I must say that I find it disgusting that whoever filmed the video of a well-known federal MP collapsed on a main street in Canberra did not have the decency to offer him some assistance. Is this how people behave in the age of social media?
Joyce was candid about his situation and admitted that alcohol was a factor in …
Help is there if it is needed
ROSS FITZGERALD
Like many readers I have been following the Barnaby Joyce story with interest. Perhaps more interest than some, for a number of reasons.
I must say that I find it disgusting that whoever filmed this video of a well-known Federal MP collapsed on a main street in Canberra did not have the decency to offer him some assistance. Is this how people behave in the age of social media?
Barnaby Joyce was candid about his situation and admitted that alcohol was a factor in his …
Working with Barry Humphries
ROSS FITZGERALD
Barry Humphries and I were friends for more than 60 years.
We drank together, got sober together, and also worked with each other.
In 1972, when we were two years sober, I played a small role in Barry’s raucous Australian comedy, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie. In this path-breaking Australian film (or “fillum” as my father used to say), Barry not only played Edna Everage but a number of other characters as well, including the mad psychiatrist, Dr Humphrey de Lamphrey. I was one of Bazza’s mates farewelling him …
Foreign tongues: can dogs tell the difference?by ROSS FITZGERALDDogs… “Surely people and their dogs can communicate with each other, not merely by gestures, but by speech as well,” wonders Ross Fitzgerald. As an ardent owner of two West Highland white terriers ROSS FITZGERALD wonders if dogs can understand different languages and distinguish between them. I TAUGHT my West Highland terriers Belle and Maddie in English to “sit”, “fetch”, “stay”, “roll over” and “come back”, but what would happen if we went to live in Russia and I spoke to them …
Anti-hero Everest reaches for dizzying heightsAcademic and author ROSS FITZGERALD reflects on the journey to his latest political satire “Pandemonium” and the series’ anti-hero Dr Professor Grafton Everest. As some avid “CityNews” readers may know, my latest Grafton Everest political satire “Pandemonium”, co-authored with Ian McFadyen, of “Comedy Company” fame, has recently been published. In it, my anti-hero, Dr Professor Grafton Everest, is the first Australian Secretary-General of the shambolic United Nations. In its prequel, “The Lowest Depths”, published last year, Russia’s dictatorial president-for-life, Vladimir Putrid, is assassinated. Will …
