Barry Crump
| Barry Crump | |
|---|---|
 Barry Crump in 1994 |
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| Born | 15 May 1935 Papatoetoe, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Died | 3 July 1996 (aged 61) |
| Occupation | novelist |
Barry John Crump MBE (born 15 May 1935, Auckland, New Zealand – died 3 July 1996[1]) was a New Zealand author of semi-autobiographical comic novels based on his image as a rugged outdoors man. Taken together his novels have sold more than a million copies domestically, equating to one book sold for every four New Zealanders.
Born in Papatoetoe, Auckland, Crump worked for many years as a government deer-culler in areas of New Zealand native forest (termed the bush). He collected his experiences in his first novel A Good Keen Man in 1960. This novel became one of the most popular in New Zealand history, and Crump’s success continued with the more fictional Hang on a Minute Mate (1961), One of Us (1962), There and Back (1963), Gulf (1964), A Good Keen Girl (1970), Bastards I Have Met (1971), and others, which capitalized on the appeal of his good-natured itinerant self-sufficient characters and idiomatic “blokey” writing style.
Crump travelled throughout Australia (where he hunted crocodiles), Europe, Turkey, and India, the result of which was his conversion to the Bahá’í Faith by 1982.[2] He married five times, including a one-year marriage to the poet Fleur Adcock and a longer marriage to Robin Lee-Robinson, and had nine sons and no daughters. One of his sons, Martin Crump is now a well-known radio broadcaster.[3]
Crump was also well known for appearing in a series of acclaimed New Zealand television advertisements for Toyota’s four-wheel drive cars, which relied on his image as a stalwart "bushman".
Crump's song, "Side By Side", featuring his "sidekick" Scotty (broadcaster Lloyd Scott), was used as the theme song for Team New Zealand in the America's Cup. He was awarded an MBE for services to literature in 1994.[4]
Crump died in 1996 of a suspected aortic aneurism. At the time of his death he was living at Ohauiti with his wife Robin.[5]
In August 2009, plans were announced for Taika Waititi to adapt his book Wild Pork and Watercress (1986) into a film. Production was set for 2010.[6]
[edit] Bibliography
- A Good Keen Man (1960)
- Hang On A Minute Mate (1961)
- One Of Us (1962)
- There And Back (1963)
- Gulf (1964)
- Scrapwagon (1965)
- The Odd Spot of Bother (1967)
- No Reference Intended (1968)
- Warm Beer (1969)
- A Good Keen Girl (1970)
- Bastards I Have Met (1971)
- Fred (1972)
- Shorty (1980)
- Puha Road (1982)
- The Adventures of Sam Cash (1985)
- Wild Pork and Watercress (1986)
- Bedtime Yarns (1988)
- Bullock Creek (1989)
- The Life and Times of a Good Keen Man (1992)
- Gold and Greenstone (1993)
- Arty and the Fox (1994)
- Forty Yarns and a Song (1995)
- Mrs Windyflax and the Pungapeople (1995)
- Crumpy's Campfire Companion (1996)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Harmer, Brian (3 July 1996). "Barry Crump dies". WYSIWYG New Zealand News (OneSquared). http://wysiwygnews.com/1996_News/1996July13.html. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ Tony Reid (20 November 1982). "‘Crump Flags It Away’—Profile of Barry Crump, a New Zealand Baha’i". New Zealand Listener (Wellington, N. Z.): 21–22, 25, 26.
- ^ "Crump, Martin". New Zealand Book Council. http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/Writers/Profiles/Crump,%20Martin. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 53528. p. 34. 30 December 1993.
- ^ NZPA (5 July 1996). "Crump still had goals - wife". The Press.
- ^ Nippert, Matt (30 August 2009). "Crump movie set to go". The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10593968. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
