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Condolence, Private Members Statements, PRIV |
TRIBUTE TO NORMAN JOHN MCVICKER, OAM
Page: 12714
Mr ANDREW GEE (Orange) [10.21 a.m.]: On Tuesday 29 May 2012 the town of Mudgee paid its last respects to Norman John McVicker, OAM, who passed away on 21 May at the age of 92. The late Mr McVicker retired to Mudgee in 1980 after a distinguished career as a freelance journalist and scriptwriter. He was born at Tempe on 19 January 1920. Norman McVicker went into radio in 1937 after completion of his secondary education at Canterbury Boys High School the previous year. From 1949 until his retirement he was the audit manager for Qantas Airlines’ audit department and in his spare time maintained his passion for drama. He founded and was a director of Pocket Playhouse Children’s Theatre, which operated from 1961 to 1973. In 1966 Prime Minister Harold Holt appointed Mr McVicker as a member of the Australian UNESCO Committee for Drama and Theatre, an appointment he held for five years.
Upon moving to Mudgee Norman quickly became involved in the arts community and was a foundation member of the Mudgee Arts Council and also gave his time to school musical productions at Mudgee High School and St Matthews School. In 1983 he began a long association with the local newspaper, the Mudgee Guardian, that wonderful source of information on all things in Mudgee, Gulgong, Rylstone, Kandos and places further afield. He started out writing book reviews and special articles and in 1989 began his regular column, “Tales from along the Wallaby Track”, which proved so popular with readers. For the next 23 years this column depicted the history of the Mudgee area, the State and the country. The day before he passed away marked the twenty-third anniversary of “Tales from along the Wallaby Track”—1,181 columns in all. At the time of his death he had written a further five instalments, which Mudgee Guardian Editor Robyn Murray has said will be published as per Norman’s wishes.
In 2009 Norman launched his book Tales from along the Wallaby Track, which featured many of his favourite history lessons on the Mudgee district. The Mudgee Guardian is part of the Fairfax Group and at the time of his death Norman was believed to be the longest serving columnist in that organisation in Australia. He had a great love for local history and after moving to Mudgee became heavily involved in studying the life of the legendary poet Henry Lawson who grew up in the area. Lawson’s work featured many local stories including his famous short story The Loaded Dog, which was set at the Budgee Budgee Inn on Ulan Road about 10 kilometres north-east of Mudgee. Lawson attended Eurunderee School near Mudgee and Norman worked for the retention and restoration of this school.
In 1990 Norman received the Mudgee Shire Council’s Australia Day Arts Award in recognition of his efforts in restoring the school. The fact that the Eurunderee School building is still standing today as a historical site in the Mudgee area is seen by many as a fitting memorial to Norman’s life in the district. He also designed the concept for and wrote biographies of Mudgee pioneers for the Wall of Reflection in the Mudgee Library. When he came to Mudgee, Norman felt he was too old to give his time to volunteer organisations such as the Rural Fire Service or the State Emergency Service. Instead, his gift to Mudgee was to use his words to write the people’s history. His gift in part led to his being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday honours list for service to the performing arts, particularly theatre, and to the community of Mudgee.
Norman served his country in World War II and in 2005 received the Commonwealth of Australia Medallion commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the end of that war for his service to Australia. In January 2007 he received the New South Wales Premier’s Community Service Award in recognition of his outstanding service to the community for his history writing, theatre and arts work. There is insufficient time for me to talk about the many other awards and recognitions he received for his work. Needless to say, he loved his life in Mudgee and used his many talents to leave an indelible mark on that wonderful part of the Orange electorate. I express my condolences and that of my electorate to Norman McVicker’s family and friends. He will be greatly missed.
Norman McVicker's Budgee Budgee site 