Spiro Zavos

Last updated

Spiro Bernard Zavos (born 1937 in Wellington of Greek immigrant parents) is a New Zealand historian, philosopher, journalist and writer.

Contents

Life and career

After gaining a Bachelor of Arts from the Victoria University of Wellington, Zavos taught history at St Patrick's College, Silverstream, in Wellington. An opening batsman, he played one first-class cricket match for Wellington in the 1958–59 season. [1]

In 1967, Zavos gained a Master of Arts (Education) from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He then moved into journalism, working as a reporter at The Dominion newspaper in Wellington (now amalgamated into The Dominion Post ). In 1976 he shared the New Zealand Feature Writer of the Year award with fellow journalist Warwick Roger, won for a series on New Zealand under Prime Minister Rob Muldoon.

The following year Zavos moved to Australia. In 1978 he was awarded the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship and spent a year in Menton, France, writing a collection of autobiographical short stories, which he later published under the title Faith of Our Fathers.

In 1979 he became an editorial writer on the Sydney Morning Herald , where he would remain until 2000. At the Herald, he also moved into rugby writing. Zavos has written more than 1000 articles for www.TheRoar.com.au, [2] an Australian sports opinion website founded by his two sons.

He has written several books on rugby, and has contributed to Radio New Zealand as a sports analyst.

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand national rugby union team</span> Mens rugby union team of New Zealand

The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for their unmatched international success, the All Blacks have often been regarded as the most successful sports team in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haka</span> Traditional Māori dance or performance art

Haka are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. Haka are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. Haka have been traditionally performed—by both men and women—for a variety of social functions within Māori culture. They are performed to welcome distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions, or funerals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia national rugby union team</span> Australia national rugby union team

The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the touring British Isles team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Campese</span> Australian rugby union player

David Ian Campese, AM, also known as Campo, is a former Australian rugby union player (1982-1996), who was capped by the Wallabies 101 times, and played 85 Tests at wing and 16 at fullback. He retired in 1996 and was awarded the Order of Australia in 2002 for his contribution to Australian rugby. David is a now well respected media commentator working in broadcasting and print media for over 30 years. He travels the world as an International guest speaker, delivering his life story which focuses on risk taking, team work and self belief, all of which were instrumental in his dramatic rise to stardom against all odds as an outsider from a small country town. He also works as an Ambassador to businesses, offering value through his internationally recognised brand and influential business network. He has worked with Coca-Cola Amatil, DHL, Adidas, Ladbrokes, and Investec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ka Mate</span> Māori haka, known for use by the New Zealand rugby team

"Ka Mate" is a Māori haka composed by Te Rauparaha, war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe of the North Island of New Zealand.

Haka, traditional dances of the Māori people, have been used in sports in New Zealand and overseas. Haka are performed to challenge opponents before matches. The dance form has been adopted by the New Zealand national rugby union team, the "All Blacks", the Māori All Blacks, New Zealand women's national rugby union team, the "Black Ferns" and a number of other New Zealand national teams perform before their international matches; some non-New Zealand sports teams have also adopted haka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wycliff Palu</span> Former Australian rugby union player

Wycliff Palu, known as Cliffy Palu, is an Australian former professional rugby union footballer of Tongan descent. He played for the New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby and represented Australia in 58 tests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digby Ioane</span> Australian rugby union player

Digby Ioane is an Australian professional rugby union footballer who played for the Colorado Raptors in Major League Rugby (MLR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbie Deans</span> Rugby player

Robert Maxwell Deans is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans previously coached the Crusaders for eight seasons and was an assistant coach of New Zealand between late 2001 and 2003. As the coach of the Crusaders, Deans won three Super 12 titles and two Super 14). He also coached Canterbury in the National Provincial Championship, winning the title in 1997. As a player, Deans represented Canterbury, first playing at fly half, and later fullback. He also played nineteen matches for the All Blacks, including five tests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Carroll (rugby union)</span> Rugby player

Daniel Brendon Carroll DSC was an Australian national representative rugby union player. He was a dual Olympic gold medalist winning in rugby at the 1908 Summer Olympics for Australia and also winning gold for the United States at the 1920 Summer Olympics.

William George "Twit" Tasker was an Australian World War I soldier who had been a national representative rugby union player making six Test appearances for the Wallabies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1904 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand</span>

The 1904 British Isles tour to New Zealand and Australia was the sixth tour by a British Isles rugby union team and the third to New Zealand or Australia. It is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950.

The 1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of the British Isles was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Australia national rugby union team against invitational and national teams from England and Wales, as well as several games against sides from North America. This was the first Australian tour of the Northern Hemisphere and the side is sometimes referred to as the "First Wallabies".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second five-eighths</span> Rugby union position

Second five-eighths, or sometimes second five-eighth, is a name used in New Zealand to refer the rugby union position commonly known elsewhere as the inside centre or number 12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Kingi</span> Rugby player

Richard Kingi is an Australian professional Rugby union footballer. While his usual position is half back, he often plays on the wing and sometimes at fullback.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Row</span> Rugby player

Frank Leonard Row was a pioneer Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative centre who was his country's first Test captain in 1899, leading the national side on three occasions.

The 1913 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Australia national rugby union team against various invitational teams from New Zealand and also against the New Zealand national team.

The Roar is an Australian sports opinion website. It was established by brothers Zac and Zolton Zavos in late 2006. Initially, The Roar was a blog to host writing from their father, Spiro Zavos who was a rugby columnist with Fairfax Media at the time. It quickly developed into a site which combines expert sports opinion articles with edited fan articles.

Richard James Pickett Marks, is an Australian former rugby union footballer and noted administrator. He played 17 Tests for Australia between 1962 and 1967, and was a captain of Queensland, for whom he played from 1962 to 1972. He served as national coaching director from 1974 to 1995, and was a leading figure in lifting the standard of Australian rugby. He also served on the Board of Queensland Rugby and was an inaugural member of rugby's International Technical Committee and drafter of the Game’s Charter. He received the Joe French Award for his contributions to Australian rugby in 2014, and remains active in debates on governance of Australian rugby. In 2020, he was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame. He is the grandfather of Queensland Reds player Curtis Browning.

Greg Growden was an Australian sports journalist, author and biographer.

References

  1. "Spiro Zavos". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  2. "Spiro Zavos – The Roar" . Retrieved 15 October 2014.