biography INSIDE TRADING
Nick Hudson
Joyce Thorpe Nicholson
and Daniel Wrixon Thorpe
A Life of Books: The Story of
D.W.Thorpe Pty. Ltd. 1921-1987
Courtyard Press $49.95hb, 326pp
0 646 39611 0
D.W. Thorpe was one such man and A Life of Books,the story of his family firm, written by him and his daughter Joyce, is compulsory reading for anyone in the trade. To them, I only have to say 'It's out', as they are familiar with his name and have been waiting expectantly for the promised book.
To all others, I say 'Drop all preconceptions about company histories.' This one not only makes good reading, but is a passport to understanding how the Australian book trade has changed in the past half century or so. Given that the changes have been largely for the better for lovers of books, it is very much in your interest to know what actions made this happen and hence what future actions (or inactions) could put it in peril.
The first part of the book, based on D.W.'s own record, is an engaging account of the pleasure and perils of small business in a world which now seems infinitely remote. In 1921, D.W. Thorpe saw, much earlier than anyone else (and earlier than the facts warranted), that the book industry was ready for a trade magazine which would promote professionalism at all levels, from publishing management to the bookshop counter. The result was a magazine which, through sundry changes of name, became today's Australian Bookseller and Publisher.
From the start, the magazine reported the major comings and goings in the trade, both of people and initiatives. Thus the book is not only the story of the firm and its flagship magazine, but an encapsulation of the issues which faced the industry in a tumultuous period.
In 1921, when the story really starts, 'books' meant, with a very few noble exceptions, 'British books'. This was still the case in 1950. Then followed a series of dramatic changes, the most important outcome of which is a tenfold increase in Australian publishing output, with an even greater increase in culturally significant publishing: fiction, poetry, drama and belles-lettres.
If this change from drought to plenty is important to you, and you want it to continue, it is not a bad idea to have some knowledge of the circumstances which have brought it about. It has not happened by chance. Other similar cultural dependencies -- most notably Canada -- have not seen a similar growth. The book helps you to understand that it happened as a result of sundry legislative carrots and sticks, a strange blend of nationalism and internationalism, and above all the commitment of a number of talented, energetic and fascinating individuals.
As it happens, the story of the firm is also an exciting one, with an Angel Pavement-like episode when a personable man won the confidence of D.W. and was given the managership of the company, only to bring the company to its knees and walk off with the funds.
But this near disaster had one beneficial effect: it caused D.W. to invite his daughter, Joyce, to step into the breach. And who was Joyce? None other than Joyce Nicholson, with whose name you will be familiar as an Australian literary figure in her own right, the author of dozens of books. Or you may know her as Joyce Nicholson the champion Bridge player, or most likely as Joyce Nicholson the feminist, who inspired a generation of women who now dominate the industry.
Here you will see three more aspects of Joyce Nicholson: as an efficient Managing Director, as a dynamic editor and as an assiduous cub reporter for the tottering magazine, which she propped up again and developed into the powerful voice we hear today. Joyce knew everybody and everything that was going on, and she has encapsulated this in the later pages of the book. She also always had a flash camera with her, so that the book is full not only of portrait studies of the main actors but also dozens of her own evocative snaps.
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Return to Australian Book Review /August 2000