EVENT: Researching C. Y. O'Connor - the hidden story

Tony Evans was born and educated in England and came to Australia over forty years ago (but not for the first time - he was a junior purser on the P & O ships in the 1950s and made several trips around the Australian coast). From 1961 onwards he worked at the ABC, first in television, where he presented the first daily current affairs program, This Day Tonight. He won a Churchill Fellowship in 1970 and worked in UK television and film, then returned to Australia in 1971 to produce documentaries for television.

Tony escaped from television about 1976 to join the ABC Radio Drama & Features Department where he wrote and produced documentaries and plays - the most satisfying period of his career. He took early retirement from the ABC in 1989 to concentrate on freelance writing. He has written three historical biographies - "The Conscious Stone" (the life of architect priest, John Hawes), "Fanatic Heart" (the life of John Boyle O'Reilly), and most recently, the biography of C. Y. O'Connor for the centenary of O'Connor's death. The latter two books have been published by UWA Press.