Colin Thiele is renowned as one of Australia's best known and
most loved educators and writers. He was born near Eudunda in 1920,
and his early education was at the tiny school at Julia where,
among other attainments, he learnt to speak English, as German was
the language spoken at home. He received his upper primary
education at Eudunda, during which time he boarded with two
somewhat eccentric uncles, Fred and August. He had to travel
further afield for his secondary education which was undertaken at
Kapunda and involved a daily train journey from the Hampden siding
which left at 7.00am. He would get back to Hampden at 8.30pm each
night, and then had a half hour bicycle ride to home - a very long
day. But he used his time well, reading and taking in the
countryside. Indeed, his early years in the Eudunda area made a
life-long impression on this most observant young man, and is the
basis of his first work "Sun on the Stubble" which recounts his
boyhood in Eudunda and the surrounding areas.
"Sun on the Stubble" was published in 1961 and since then he has
written more than fifty wonderful award-winning books for children.
His books are now read and loved around the world. In 1977 he was
awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia for his services to
literature and education.
Colin Thiele is best summed up in the words of fellow writer, Max
Fatchen :
"Colin Thiele is a
quiet man and a gentle one. It's the gentleness of great strength
and the quietness of an enormous well of peace and conviction that
the man has inside him. He has, without noise or sensation, reached
out and with his warm genius touched the hearts and minds of
countless people. He offers us, without bombast, the proposition
that the human spirit is alive and well, that we can all co-exist,
that issues can be discussed and examined with friendliness, and
that we do not have to pound each other to pieces to impress
society."
As testament to the regard the people of Eudunda feel for this
son of theirs, they have erected a bronze statue of him in the
gardens of the town, and are currently proposing to undertake the
restoration of his birthplace as a living museum to this great
man.
