Mary Durack (1913–1994)

Mary Durack was born in Adelaide, Australia, a daughter of Michael Patrick and Bessie Durack. The family lived at the remote Argyle Downs and Ivanhoe cattle stations in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. In the late 1920s and early 1930s Mary and her sister Elizabeth managed the Ivanhoe cattle station. During this time, they lived and worked very closely with the indigenous people who worked on and lived near the station. Mary later told the story of her family's history, beginning with the mid-19th century migration from Ireland, in her biographies Kings in Grass Castles (1959), and its sequel, Sons in the Saddle (1983). Between 1934 and 1938, Mary wrote Virgilians' Friendly Corner, a column for rural women and children in The Western Mail, using the pen name Virgilia; it was some of her first published work as a paid writer. In 1935, Mary and Elizabeth published their first collaboration as writer and illustrator, the novel All-About: The Story of a Black Community on Argyle Station. They want on to produce a number of children's books, including Chunuma (1936), Son of Djaro (1940), The Way of the Whirlwind (1941), and The Magic Trumpet (1946). Mary's independent works included plays and further children's literature. Durack adapted her 1955 novel Keep Him My Country into the libretto for a one-act opera called Dalgerie by James Penberthy, one of the first two operas to be given an evening performance at the Sydney Opera House.
Her other literary works include editing The Fifth Sparrow (1972), a posthumously published autobiography of author Mollie Skinner. In
1938, she married Horatio (Horrie) Clive Miller, a famed aviator and airline pioneer, with whom she had six children, including Robin Miller, who also became a famous pilot and nurse. Mary was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her services to literature in 1977. In 1989, she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).