Arnold Christopher "Kit" Denton (5 May 1928 – 14 April 1997), originally Arnold Ditkofsky,[1][2] was a prominent Australian writer and broadcaster. Denton was born in England and was of Polish Jewish descent.[1] He is the father of comedian and television presenter Andrew Denton.
Kit Denton | |
|---|---|
| Born | Arnold Christopher Ditkofsky 5 May 1928 Stepney, London, England |
| Died | 14 April 1997 (aged 68) Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation |
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| Children | Joanna, Andrew and Phillipa |
Early life
editDenton was born in the London suburb of Stepney[2] and was raised in the East End.[3] He joined the British Army where he served with the British Forces Broadcasting Service in Germany.[3] Denton emigrated to Australia in the late 1940s, and worked as a gold miner in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
Broadcasting and writing career in Australia
editFrom 1951 until 1965, Denton worked for the Australian Broadcasting Commission as an announcer, and eventually moved on to screenwriting, producing and directing television. In the 1970s, an anonymous television critic for The Australian newspaper was revealed to be Kit Denton, writing under the pseudonym "Janus".[4]
Denton had an abiding interest in military history, and is best known for his novel The Breaker (1973), based on the story of Breaker Morant. Although it was widely assumed that the film Breaker Morant was based on Denton's book, it was in fact based on a play by Kenneth G. Ross, who successfully sued publisher Angus & Robertson when they publicised Denton's novel as the source for the film. Denton also wrote For Queen and Commonwealth, about British military forces in the late 19th century, and Gallipoli: One Long Grave (1986), a book about the Battle of Gallipoli.
Death
editDenton died in April 1997 at his home in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.
Legacy
editIn August 2006, Denton's son Andrew announced a new A$25,000 writing scholarship in his father's name: the Kit Denton Fellowship, which would be presented to members of the Australian Writers' Guild from 2007 onwards.[5]
Bibliography
edit- A Walk Around My Cluttered Mind (1968)
- The Breaker: a novel (1973, ISBN 0-207-14344-7)
- The Thinkable Man (1976, ISBN 0-207-13279-8)
- The Breaker: a novel, with a selection of the verse of Harry (the Breaker) Morant / Kit Denton (1980, revised edition ISBN 0-207-14268-8)
- Gallipoli illustrated / compiled and written by Kit Denton (1981, ISBN 0-7270-1462-5)
- Closed File: The True Story Behind the Execution of Breaker Morant and Peter Handcock (1983, ISBN 0-7270-1739-X)
- Fiddlers Bridge (1986, ISBN 0-949118-10-9)
- Gallipoli, One Long Grave (1986, ISBN 0-949118-04-4)
- For Queen and Commonwealth (1987, ISBN 0-949118-08-7)
- Burning Spear (1990, ISBN 0-947245-06-5 (hbk) and ISBN 0-947245-07-3 (pbk))
- Red on White (1991, ISBN 0-330272-19-5)
Credits
edit- Demonstrator (1971) – screenplay
References
edit- ^ a b Matthew Ricketson, 2004, The Best Australian Profiles, Melbourne, Black Inc., p. 248.
- ^ a b General Register Office (UK), n.d. Births, Marriages & Deaths 1837–1983, Births registered in April, May and June 1928, p. 285 (viewed 14 February 2013).
- ^ a b Wilde, William; Joy Hooton; Barry Andrews (1995). The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-553381-X.
- ^ Debus, Bob: Private Members' Statements: Death of Mr Kit Denton, New South Wales Legislative Assembly Hansard, 22 April 1997
- ^ Kit Denton Scholarship Announced at the 2006 AWGIE Awards Archived 8 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Australian Writers' Guild, 28 August 2006.
External links
edit- Kit and Betty Denton, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 1953 – photography by Terence and Margaret Spencer
- Address delivered by Kit Denton, to the Canberra Times literary luncheon, 12 October 1983 (sound recording) – introduction by Graham Wilkinson and Peter Fuller
- "Andrew Denton", episode on Who Do you think you Are