A CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF EDWIN JAMES BRADY - Mallacoota ...

As well it provided a sense of consecutiveness in his literary output. But it cannot be
said that he made the most of this opportunity, for during that year only about a dozen
poems and a short critical article appeared in The Bulletin above Brady’s name, and so
far as can be ascertained, nothing else. It was significant that the contract was not
renewed the following year.
In 1925 Brady wrote to the Prime Minister, the Hon S.M. Bruce 1 to interest the
Government in sponsoring a volume on North Australia, similar to The Land of the
Sun, which had brought favourable publicity to Queensland. A refusal led Brady to
confide to a friend that as the Bruce Government did not seem interested in national
development, he looked forward to Labor’s return to office as “Australia’s only
chance”. 2 An attempt the following year to promote a companion volume to Australia
Unlimited to be called Industrial Australia by the formation of “E.J. Brady
Publications, Pty. Ltd.” Was equally unsuccessful, although a start was made upon a
manuscript. A more successful venture at this time (1926) was the modest The
Overlander: The Princes Highway, containing general historical and geographical
information as well as some valuable sidelights into the pioneering families of the
Gippsland region.
In commemoration of Authors’ Week, 1927, Brady gave an address over the radio
station 3AR in which he referred to an article in The Age which had called him
“Australia’s most optimistic writer” (in many respects he must have been). In this
speech he made some comparisons between the flowering culture in Australia and in
Ancient Greece (how Norman Lindsay would have approved!) and while pointing out
the recognition given by the rest of the world to Australia’s production in the fields of
primary and secondary industry, called for a similar recognition both at home and
abroad, for literature and the other arts. 3 He used a similar theme for an address at
Glen Iris State School the same year. Whatever his faults, Brady had a welldeveloped
nationalistic pride and took every opportunity to express it and inculcate it
in others. This pride in indigenous literature was further increased when he was
elected a member of the Society of Australian Authors in 1928.
Among the politicians whom Brady had met in Melbourne was John Curtin, who
impressed him as a man of exceptional intelligence and strength of character. The
two met again and over drinks discussed the political conditions then existing. Brady,
in fact, extended himself beyond his capacity and ruefully recalled that he came away
with a profound respect for his companion’s drinking prowess and a “very high
opinion of him personally”. Brady forecast that Curtin would become Prime Minister,
to which that politician responded with an enigmatic smile. The two met several
times after this, each time Brady being impressed with the other’s earnestness. Later
he considered that Australia ill-repaid the debt it owed Curtin for his leadership in the
crisis years when “the destiny of this country rested on his shoulders”. Among
Brady’s positive qualities was an ability to get along well with people from diverse
backgrounds and to see the strengths in the personality of others.
1
Brady to S.M. Bruce, 17.3.1925, in National Library.
2
Brady to W. Yandle, 27.9.1927, in National Library
3
Delivered 12.9.1927, this address is in manuscript in La Trobe Library. An account of this address
appeared in The Age, 13.9.1927
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