Australian author, commentator, radio and television presenter
Peter FitzSimons
|
---|
FitzSimons in 2013
|
Born
| Peter John FitzSimons
(
1961-06-29
)
29 June 1961
(age 62)
Sydney, Australia
|
---|
Occupation
| - Journalist
- writer
- radio and television personality
- former rugby union football player
|
---|
Education
| Knox Grammar School
Findlay High School
|
---|
Alma mater
| University of Sydney
|
---|
Genre
| Non-fiction
|
---|
Years active
| 1987?present
|
---|
Spouse
|
|
---|
Rugby player
|
|
|
|
Peter John Allen FitzSimons
[1]
AM
(born 29 June 1961) is an Australian author, journalist, and radio and television presenter. He is a former
national representative
rugby union player and was the chair of the
Australian Republic Movement
from 2015 to 2022.
[2]
Early life
[
edit
]
FitzSimons grew up in
Peats Ridge
,
[3]
in the
Central Coast
of New South Wales. He was one of seven children. He attended Peats Ridge Public School and
Knox Grammar School
before going in 1978 to
Findlay High School
, Ohio,
[4]
for a year as an
exchange student
on an
American Field Service Scholarship
. He then completed an arts degree at the
University of Sydney
,
[5]
residing at
Wesley College
from 1980 to 1982.
[6]
Career
[
edit
]
Rugby
[
edit
]
FitzSimons first played club rugby with the
Sydney University Football Club
and then with the
Manly RUFC
in Sydney in the 1980s under the coaching of
Alan Jones
.
[1]
Between 1985 and 1989 he played with
CA Brive
in France for four seasons as the club's first foreign player. He played seven
test matches
at
lock
for the
Australian national rugby union team
between 1989 and 1990, debuting against
France
in Strasbourg in November 1989, on the Wallabies 1989 tour of Europe. His final Test match was against the
All Blacks
in Christchurch.
[7]
In
On a Wing and a Prayer
, former
Wallabies
winger
David Campese
criticised FitzSimons for starting a brawl in Australia's first Test against
France
in 1990.
[8]
: 117, 166
Campese labelled FitzSimons' actions "a disgrace to the good name of rugby"
[8]
: 117
and asserted that "he was doing the game and its reputation enormous damage."
[8]
: 166
Campese cautioned that if such fights "turn even one family away from the game, then they have been too costly".
[8]
: 166
Former Wallabies
backrower
Willie Ofahengaue
said of FitzSimons: "He's a big character. Funny guy. Talkative. One thing I remember about rooming with him was he used to get his suitcase, tip it up and pour everything out on to the floor. When it was time to go home he would chuck everything back in any old way. Fitzy was a real roughie, but he is married now so he must have changed."
[9]
Journalist
[
edit
]
FitzSimons has written for
The Sydney Morning Herald
since 1988,
[10]
and has been a sports columnist for that publication since 1987.
[11]
He regularly appears on the Australian
Foxtel
program
The Back Page
, formerly hosted by rugby league journalist
Mike Gibson
and now
Tony Squires
. For the Saturday edition of
The Sydney Morning Herald
, FitzSimons writes a column titled "The Fitz Files" which looks at all the happenings over the past seven days in sport. He writes a more general version of "The Fitz Files" in
The Sun-Herald
on Sundays, focusing on community activities and events in Sydney.
Andrew Denton
has called him "Australia's finest sports journalist".
[12]
On 25 September 2001 he wrote a thought-provoking opinion editorial piece titled Memo world: try saying sorry to avoid a sorry end.
[13]
In August 2022 FitzSimons threatened to sue Senator
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price
for defamation when she said that he had been rude and aggressive in a telephone interview. Price urged FizSimons and
The Sydney Morning Herald
to release the recording of the interview but they declined to do so.
[14]
Radio
[
edit
]
In January 2006 FitzSimons began co-hosting a breakfast radio program with
Mike Carlton
on Sydney radio station
2UE
. He was brought onto the 2UE breakfast show in an attempt to boost the program's dwindling ratings.
[15]
However, the
Mike and Fitz Breakfast Show
still trailed a long way behind the number one program on
2GB
, hosted by FitzSimons' former coach Alan Jones.
[16]
After two years, FitzSimons quit to become a
stay-at-home dad
and focus on his writing.
[17]
Author
[
edit
]
FitzSimons is a prolific writer and is one of Australia's best-selling non-fiction writers.
[18]
He has written books about subjects such as
Nancy Wake
, the shipwreck of the
Batavia
, Sir
John Monash
,
Breaker Morant
,
Charles Kingsford Smith
and
John Eales
.
[19]
Selected books
[
edit
]
- FitzSimons, Peter (2011).
Nancy Wake : a biography of our greatest war heroine 1912?2011
. Sydney: HarperCollins Publishers.
ISBN
978-0-7322-9525-7
.
OCLC
793815852
.
[20]
- FitzSimons, Peter (2012).
Batavia
. North Sydney, NSW: Random House Australia.
ISBN
978-1-86471-134-9
.
OCLC
774921323
.
[21]
[22]
- FitzSimons, Peter (2017).
Victory at Villers-Bretonneux : why a French town will never forget the Anzacs
. North Sydney, NSW.
ISBN
978-1-925324-67-9
.
OCLC
993680220
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
[23]
- FitzSimons, Peter (2018).
Mutiny on the Bounty
. Sydney, NSW.
ISBN
978-0-7336-3411-6
.
OCLC
1030754409
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
[24]
- FitzSimons, Peter (2018).
Burke & Wills : the triumph and tragedy of Australia's most famous explorers
. Sydney, NSW.
ISBN
978-0-7336-4079-7
.
OCLC
1030754077
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
[25]
[26]
- FitzSimons, Peter (2020).
Breaker Morant : the epic story of the Boer War and Harry 'Breaker' Morant : drover, horseman, bush poet, murderer or hero?
. Sydney, NSW.
ISBN
978-0-7336-4130-5
.
OCLC
1159022386
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
[27]
- FitzSimons, Peter (2022).
The Opera House
. Australia: Hachette Australia.
ISBN
9780733641336
.
OCLC
1273171989
.
[28]
- FitzSimons, Peter (2022).
The Battle of Long Tan
. Sydney.
ISBN
978-0-7336-4661-4
.
OCLC
1330547746
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
[29]
Community and political activism
[
edit
]
FitzSimons is or was involved with a range of community organisations. At the
University of Sydney
he was a fellow of the Senate from 2009 to 2013,
[30]
as well as Pro-Chancellor,
[31]
a
patron
of The
Russell Prize
for Humour Writing,
State Library of New South Wales
, since 2015
[32]
and chairman of the
Australian Republic Movement
from 2015 to 2022.
[33]
[2]
Additionally, he served on the council of the
Australian War Memorial
[34]
and founded the Cauliflower Club with
Nick Farr-Jones
.
[35]
In the lead-up to
2019 New South Wales state election
, FitzSimons began a campaign to prevent the demolition of the
Sydney Football Stadium
and
Stadium Australia
. He began by launching a petition in late 2017 on
Change.org
that reached approximately 220,000 signatures prior to the election as well as numerous editorial articles decrying the demolitions. The stadium issue became a major element of the campaign with Labor leader
Michael Daley
calling the election a "referendum on stadiums".
[36]
On 5 December 2017, FitzSimons remarked on Twitter that the incumbent
Gladys Berejiklian
government could "bulldoze and rebuild three new stadiums, including Parra, for $3 billion?on no demand?or they can win the next election, but they can't do both."
[37]
On 23 March, Berejiklian and her coalition were easily returned to government, with political commentators suggesting that the issue did not resonate with the wider community of the state.
[38]
The campaign had a minor success, however, as the government changed the original plan for a complete knock down rebuild of Stadium Australia, and instead would go ahead with a billion-dollar refurbishment. The refurbishment would also be cancelled, although no funds were allocated to any grassroots sports facilities as FitzSimons wished, and later had a similar level of funding directed to a new stadium in Penrith.
Personal life
[
edit
]
FitzSimons is married to Australian journalist and TV presenter
Lisa Wilkinson
.
[39]
They have three children and live in Sydney.
[40]
FitzSimons has identified himself as an
atheist
and a
Republican
.
[41]
[42]
Bandana
[
edit
]
FitzSimons is well renowned for wearing a red bandana.
[43]
[44]
He has explained his regularly wearing of the bandana due to his children giving it to him to wear, so he wears it for them.
[45]
[46]
He is at times referred to informally as "Pirate Pete" due to his wearing of the headwear.
[47]
Honours
[
edit
]
On 13 June 2011 FitzSimons was named a
Member of the Order of Australia
for service to literature as a biographer, sports journalist and commentator, and to the community through contributions to conservation, disability care, atheism, social welfare and sporting organisations.
[48]
[49]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Player profile of Peter FitzSimons"
. ESPN
. Retrieved
3 October
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"Peter FitzSimons to step down as ARM chair as Abetz attacks republic campaign's 'elitism' | Republicanism | The Guardian"
.
amp.theguardian.com
. Retrieved
30 January
2023
.
- ^
Mosman Sporting Wall of Fame: Peter FitzSimons' profile
Archived
3 September 2009 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
FitzSimons, Peter (21 May 2016).
"Sorry if I offended anyone, but we're all a mob of bastards"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
.
- ^
Speaker Profile of Peter FitzSimons at The Celebrity Speakers Bureau
- ^
FitzSimons, Peter (9 November 2013).
"Given time, great colleges learn to fix their problems"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
. Retrieved
4 December
2014
.
- ^
"Match report: New Zealand Australia, 21 July 1990"
. ESPN
. Retrieved
4 May
2014
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (
link
)
- ^
a
b
c
d
Campese, David
; Bills, Peter (1991).
On a Wing and a Prayer
. Queen Anne Press.
ISBN
0-356-17958-3
.
- ^
"Big O far from the end of the line"
by Robert Craddock,
The Courier-Mail
, 8 October 2011
- ^
His first article as a
Herald
correspondent was "From the Wilds of France":
FitzSimons, P., "The survivors of la Besse still remember",
The Sydney Morning Herald
, (Tuesday, 22 November 1988), p. 23.
- ^
His first article as a
Herald
sports journalist was:
FitzSimons, P., "French give Scots some pointers"
,
The Sydney Morning Herald
, 9 March 1987, p. 53.
- ^
"Panelist: Peter FitzSimons"
.
Q&A
.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
. Retrieved
26 February
2012
.
- ^
FitzSimons, Peter (25 September 2001).
"Memo world: try saying sorry to avoid a sorry end"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
. Archived from
the original
on 5 February 2003
. Retrieved
20 May
2019
.
We accept that such hate as drove the planes into the World Trade Centre towers can only have come from incredible suffering, and we are desperately sorry for that suffering
- ^
Meade, Amanda (12 August 2022).
"The Peter FitzSimons interview with Jacinta Price that sparked a week-long culture war"
.
The Guardian (Australian edition)
. Retrieved
17 August
2022
.
- ^
Javes, Sue (23 January 2006).
"The odd couple"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
.
- ^
"Mike Carlton quits 2UE radio breakfast slot"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. Sydney. 7 September 2009.
- ^
Connolly, Fiona (7 November 2007).
"Radio battle for Fitz vacancy"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. Sydney.
- ^
"Peter FitzSimons"
.
Hachette
. Retrieved
12 April
2022
.
- ^
"Peter FitzSimons"
.
Biblio
. Retrieved
12 April
2022
.
- ^
Review:
- ^
Review:
Koster, Pieter (January 2013).
"Batavia [Book Review]"
.
Studies in Western Australian History
(28): 155?157.
ISSN
0314-7525
.
- ^
Interview:
"Peter FitzSimons Batavia Interview"
.
female.com.au
. Retrieved
30 January
2023
.
- ^
Reviews:
- ^
Review:
- ^
Excerpt:
- ^
Reviews:
- ^
Review:
- ^
Reviews:
- ^
Review:
- ^
"Fellows of the Senate: Peter John FitzSimons"
.
University of Sydney
.
- ^
"University appoints six alumni to governing body"
.
University of Sydney
. Retrieved
26 November
2020
.
- ^
"NSW State Library launches humour-writing prize"
, Books + Publishing, 17 December 2014
- ^
"Peter FitzSimons appointed head of Australian Republican Movement"
.
The Guardian
. 20 July 2015
. Retrieved
3 September
2015
.
- ^
"Hawke, FitzSimons appointed to War Memorial council"
.
The Canberra Times
. 22 March 2012
. Retrieved
26 November
2020
.
- ^
"The Wrap: Cauliflower Club a shining light in Australian rugby"
.
The Roar
. Retrieved
26 November
2020
.
- ^
Smith, Alexandra (3 December 2018).
"
'I will not be bullied': Daley holds firm on stadiums policy"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
. Retrieved
4 April
2019
.
The new Labor leader says the state election would be a referendum on stadiums
- ^
Peter FitzSimons [@Peter_Fitz] (5 December 2017).
"(untitled)"
(
Tweet
) – via
Twitter
.
- ^
Hinds, Richards (25 March 2019).
"Sydney stadium wars ended by Coalition's NSW election victory as people vote for an upgrade"
.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
. Retrieved
4 April
2019
.
it is possible to say with confidence there was one thing Sydneysiders did not vote against ? new or refurbished stadiums.
- ^
"Galleries: 1992 Weddings"
.
Perth Now
. 5 October 2012. p. 4
. Retrieved
3 March
2014
.
- ^
Clune, Richard (25 July 2010).
"Today show hosts a perfect match"
.
The Sunday Telegraph
. Sydney
. Retrieved
3 March
2014
.
- ^
"Is Religion a Con? A special evening with Peter FitzSimons"
, 12 June 2012, The Independent Theatre
- ^
"Peter FitzSimons, the atheist fire-and-brimstone preacher"
. 15 April 2018.
- ^
Lewis, Charlie (6 September 2021).
"Tips and Murmurs: FitzSimons' approach lacking Grace"
.
Crikey
. Retrieved
26 August
2022
.
- ^
"Peter FitzSimons ? Meet Lisa Wilkinson Husband"
.
New Idea
. Retrieved
26 August
2022
.
- ^
Stewart, Brittany (30 June 2016).
"Lisa Wilkinson on why husband Peter Fitzsimons always wears that red bandana"
.
Mamamia
. Retrieved
26 August
2022
.
- ^
FitzSimons, Peter (31 December 2013).
"Peter FitzSimons: Why I wear the red bandanna"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
. Retrieved
26 August
2022
.
- ^
"Favourite Books of Peter FitzSimons"
.
weekendnotes.com
. Retrieved
26 August
2022
.
- ^
"Peter FitzSimons AM"
. Australian Honours Database
. Retrieved
13 June
2011
.
- ^
"Former Wallaby FitzSimons honoured"
.
Australian Rugby Union
.
Australian Associated Press
. 13 June 2011. Archived from
the original
on 19 July 2012
. Retrieved
22 April
2012
.
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Academics
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Other
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