Emeritus Professor Colin Roderick of James Cook University (Townsville, Queensland, Australia) passed away on June 16 2000 after a long battle with cancer. In the late sixties, in the seventies and eighties, he was a familiar figure in European universities, where he contributed significantly to putting Australian literature on the academic map. An untiring lecturer on Patrick White and Australian culture, he joined the SEPC at a very early stage and took part regularly in our conferences. A multi-talented figure – he even taught music for a time –, he obtained his BA teaching by day and studying by night. During the war, after joining the Light Horse Brigade of the reserve force in 1938, he did intelligence work. His knowledge of German and his interest in short wave radio qualified him for this function. In 1945, he joined Angus and Robertson, first as editor and then as director until 1965. He played an essential part in the creation of a chair of Australian Literature at Sydney University.

He was appointed Professor of English at the University College of Townsville (later James Cook University) in 1965. He was a judge for the Miles Franklin Award between 1957 and 1991. He set up the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies. As an author, he published The Australian Novel (1945), critical and biographical works on Rosa Praed (1948), Miles Franklin (1982) and Banjo Paterson (1993), as well as a novel, The Lawyer and the Lady (1955). He also edited James Tucker’s convict novel Ralph Rashleigh (1952). A tireless researcher of immense culture, he published extensively on various subjects such as the murderer John Knachtbull and the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt. He also wrote on Wordsworth, Coleridge, La Fontaine, Racine, Philippe de Commynes and Machiavelli. His greatest work is his multi-volume edition of Lawson’s verse and prose. Only a few days before he died he received an advance copy of his last book, Rose Paterson’s [Banjo’s mother] Ulalong Letters, 1878-1888. A man of formidable energy, he hoped till the end that ‘he would get a reprieve and accomplish more’, his wife wrote to me. He received a CBE in 1966 and was awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Literature Society in 1974. He was given an honorary doctorate of letters by the University of Caen as well as a number of distinctions from European Universities. He is survived by a daughter from his first marriage, by a brother and sister, and by his wife, Margaret, who supported his research and helped him with his manuscripts. As a publisher, scholar, and promoter of Australian literature, Professor Colin Roderick made a unique contribution to the soul and image of Australia.