Michael with beetroot sprouting

Michael Boddy (1934–2014) was born in England and educated at Cambridge before arriving in Australia as a 'ten quid migrant' in 1960. After working in theatre in Melbourne he moved to Sydney, where he won several awards for his work as a writer, actor and director in film, theatre, television and radio. His Cradle of Hercules, commissioned for the opening season of the Sydney Opera House and starring Jack Charles and David Gulpilil, was one of the first plays to feature Aboriginal actors in leading roles. His wife Janet Dawson, who painted sets for many of Boddy's productions, won the Archibald with a portrait of him in 1973. The following year the couple relocated to Binalong, New South Wales. Asked why they moved, Boddy said: 'Our marriage is one long conversation. We moved to the bush so we could talk to each other without so many interruptions.' Boddy became a regular columnist for the Canberra Times and the Australian on food, consumer affairs, natural history, sustainability and small farming; he wrote Michael Boddy's Good Food Book, and co-wrote Surviving in the Eighties. Much of what he wrote in the 1980s and 1990s startlingly anticipated the widespread current interest in locally-grown, organic and artisanal food.

Purchased 2015
© Janet Dawson/Copyright Agency, 2024