Present in Spirit
It was Keith Windschuttle’s idea. The sainted editor of Quadrant invited a group of friends and admirers of the late Christopher Pearson to a lunch on Fort Denison to celebrate the man and his writings, especially the posthumous book A Better Class of Sunset (Connor Court). It was a magnificent spring day on magnificent Sydney Harbour, with yachts, sailing boats, speedboats, ferries and water taxis everywhere. Christopher, despite his fondness for winter, would have loved it.
In editing the book, Nick Cater selected some 140 of Pearson’s columns from the Australian, added some essays, arranged for Introductions by Tony Abbott (who launched the book in parliament in October); Jack Snelling (Minister for Health and Ageing in the South Australian government); Peter von Fritz (old friend and sponsor of this Festschrift); and Nick Cater himself. Other friends—Christopher’s doctor, the novelist and poet Peter Goldsworthy, his aesthetic adviser Peter Jenkinson, and writer Andrew…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins