Ron Iddon
About Ron Iddon
Ron Iddon is first and foremost a writer, but like most of us who have reached mature years, he can look back on quite a few other activities and endeavours.
He has been a television journalist, a documentary filmmaker and a grazier; he bred stud Santa Gertrudis cattle, helped map the Bicentennial National Trail, and restores early Australian furniture. Through all of it, he has been writing about the country outside Australia’s big cities.
About
- BornRyde, Sydney, 21 March 1940
- SchoolFort Street High School, Petersham
- StudiedWagga Agricultural College, Diploma of Agriculture, 1960
- The ABC1964 to 1982: radio, then A Big Country
- FilmsOver a hundred episodes of A Big Country and twenty independent documentaries
- BooksThree non-fiction titles, four collections of short stories
- HomeToowoomba, Queensland
Early life
Ron was born in Ryde, Sydney, on 21 March 1940, to George and Mollie Iddon (née Wilson), the eldest of five children.
He was chosen for the selective Fort Street High School at Petersham, where he won the Senior Poetry Prize and gained the Leaving Certificate in 1956.
He went to Wagga Agricultural College and graduated with a Diploma of Agriculture in 1960. While there he won a cadetship with the N.S.W. Department of Agriculture, and from 1961 to 1963 he worked as a Trainee Livestock Officer at the Leeton and Trangie research stations.
The ABC years
In 1964 he joined the Rural Department of the ABC, then the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Until 1967 he worked in radio as an interviewer and presenter in Canberra, Melbourne, Sale, Adelaide, Mount Gambier, Launceston, Hobart and Rockhampton.
In 1967 he moved to Sydney to work on a new national half-hour television series, A Big Country. By 1982 he had researched, narrated or directed over one hundred episodes. If his name is known to the wider Australian public, it is probably through that program.
On the land
In the 1970s Ron became President of the Australian Trail Horse Riders Association, and was greatly instrumental in mapping and establishing the National Horse Trail from Melbourne to Cooktown, later renamed the Bicentennial National Trail.
With partners he founded the Capricorn Santa Gertrudis stud at Barraba in New South Wales, and was its studmaster. The stud built a quarantine embryo collection facility on the property and exported embryos to a satellite stud in New Zealand.
Toowoomba
When the partnership was disbanded in 1993, Ron moved to Toowoomba, Queensland, and concentrated on writing short stories. He revived his interest in antiques and, after a TAFE course in restoration, developed a particular interest in early Australian furniture.
He still lives in Toowoomba, where he now writes novels, organises small discussion meetings with friends interested in Australian and world affairs, and tutors privately in literacy.
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Publications
Non-fiction
- A Big Country, Volume 1, with John Mabey (ABC)
- A Big Country, Volume 2, with John Mabey (ABC)
- The Stockman, with Mary Durack, R.M. Williams, Olaf Ruhen and others (Lansdowne)
Fiction
- The Short Stories of Ron Iddon – The Murray River Collection
- The Short Stories of Ron Iddon – The Queensland Collection
- The Redspear Team
- The Short Stories of Ron Iddon – The Fourth Collection
All four published by Leopardwood Productions.
Writing awards
- Winner, E.J. Brady Short Story Competition, for “The Morning News” (140 entries)
- Commendation, C.J. Dennis Short Story Competition, for “The Waitress”
- Short-listed, Elyne Mitchell Short Story Competition, for “Boilers”
- Senior Poetry Prize, Fort Street High School
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“Ron Iddon’s stories are delightful. I believe he is this generation’s Alan Marshall and that his stories of contemporary Australian life will be cherished as insightful vignettes of social history.”Jane Grieve