Penguin Books Australia

Patsy Adam-Smith, AO, OBE, was born in 1926 in Nowingi, Victoria. She was the daughter of country railway workers and went on to write about her childhood in Hear the Train Blow, 1964. The author of some 30 books, she had the rare ability to tap our Australian consciousness and bring us closer to our national identity. Throughout her life she has displayed a passion for adventure and scholarship, and a great love of Australia. The Anzacs shared the 1978 Age Book of the Year Award and was made into a popular TV series. In 1980 she received an OBE for services to literature, and in 1994 she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her contribution to community history. Patsy Adam-Smith died in 2001.