Kenneth Bernard Cook (5 May 1929 ? 18 April 1987) ^[1] was an Australian journalist, ^[2] television documentary maker, and novelist best known for his works Wake in Fright , which is still in print five decades after its first publication, ^[3] and the humorous Killer Koala trilogy.

Career [ edit ]

Born in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba , Cook attended Fort Street High School . After leaving school he worked around Australia in a variety of jobs including laboratory technician, journalist and television documentary-maker, and boatshed operator. ^[4]

In 1966, with businessman Gordon Barton , Cook founded a new political party, the Liberal Reform Group . Cook was vehemently opposed to the Vietnam War, and stood (unsuccessfully) as an LRG candidate for the seat of Parramatta in the 1966 Australian federal election . ^[5]

A keen amateur lepidopterist , Cook established the first butterfly farm in Australia on the banks of Sydney's Hawkesbury River in the 1970s. ^[6]

Several of Cook's novels were adapted for the screen. Wake in Fright was filmed in 1971 by Ted Kotcheff , starring Donald Pleasence and Gary Bond (released under the title Outback in Europe and the US). Stockade was filmed by Ross McGregor and Hans Pomeranz , also in 1971. ^[7] In 1976 The Bushranger was made into a telemovie , starring Leonard Teale , John Hamblin and Kate Fitzpatrick . ^[8]

Cook also wrote one episode of the Australian TV children's adventure series The Rovers (1970). ^[9]

In 2007 Cook's novel The Man Underground was adapted as a radio drama by ABC Radio National. ^[10]

A 72-minute audio interview with Cook by Hazel de Berg 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. ^[11]

He also wrote novels under the pseudonyms Alan Hale and John Duffy. ^[12] Cook's literary estate is managed by Curtis Brown Australia. ^[3]

Personal life [ edit ]

Cook was married to Patricia Hickie, with whom he had four children, Megan (an accomplished journalistic-style writer in her own right, as Megan Gressor ^[13] ), 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 . 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. ^[5]

Bibliography [ edit ]

Novels [ edit ]

• 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 [ edit ]

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

Non-fiction [ edit ]

• Blood Red Roses (1963) travel

TV play [ edit ]

• I'm Damned If I Know (1972)

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Kenneth Cook summary by Jan Wositsky of program on Radio National (ABC)
• "Out of Control in Oz: The Novels of Kenneth Cook"