Tony Parsons (Australian author)

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Anthony David Parsons OAM is an Australian author and kelpie breeder.

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He founded the well-known Kelpie stud “Karrawarra” in 1950 and has gone on to become the breed's most passionate and hardest working advocate. [1] Before that, he was a professional sheep and wool classer. [2] Don Burke said that Tony Parsons has done more to developing the Kelpie as a working dog than anyone else. [3] Kelpie breeder Jan Lowing says that "Parsons (Karrawarra) was responsible for seeking out and preserving Kelpie bloodlines after the fiasco of two World Wars, during which many ‘studs’ disappeared". [4]

Parsons spent time in the Mudgee area 300 km north west of Sydney up to 1972, [5] and based several of his fiction books in the region. He subsequently lived at East Greenmount, Queensland near Toowoomba [6] where his Kelpie stud is located.

Bibliography [7]

Novels

Non-fiction

Awards

In 1992, he was awarded the prestigious Medal of the Order of Australia for his “contribution to the propagation of the Australian Kelpie sheep dog”. [8]

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References

  1. "Kelpie breeder pens another book". The Chronicle, Toowoomba. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  2. "Guest Blog: Tony Parsons". Fleur McDonald. 31 August 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  3. "Burke's Backyard, Working Kelpie Road Test". YouTube . 20 February 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  4. "About Us". Karmala Kelpies. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  5. Parsons, Tony (2006). Valley of the White Gold. Camberwell Vic: Penguin Viking. pp. v–vi. ISBN   0-670-02987-4.
  6. "Tony Parsons". Penguin Books. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  7. "Catalogue National Library of Australia". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  8. "Award extract - Australian honours - Anthony David Parsons". Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 16 April 2021.