DEDICATED to Pa Walsh, this page contains a selection of stories and articles written by him in retirement – which wasn’t really retirement at all.

As I recall he was freelancing and submitting artices to a number of magazines and newspapers in Melbourne long after he left the newspapers. In the mid 1980s, my boss at the time, a network TV executive, thought Pa’s sports-themed articles could prove valuable as research material and form the foundation for storylines for a planned series of TV programs. Pa paid me the compliment of his confidence and gave me many of his stories but unfortunately, my boss wasn’t my boss for long (he took another job interstate), and the series never eventuated. Nevertheless, I kept the stories knowing that someday they would be published and …voila! they have now found a happy little home here on “Pa’s Page”, for all to enjoy and for “Pa”sterity!
You can read more abour Pa, from various perspectives on Nancy’s, Allen’s and Brian’s pages.

Letter from Pa (undated – c.1985)

 

PA’s SHORT STORIES

Non-Fiction

• The Curtain Comes Down On The Firm: Australia’s theatrical legend, J.C. Williamson.
• Stuart Town: A sentimental look at the little central NSW town that is indelibly linked to Australia’s gold-rush days.
• Delivering His Majesty’s Mail: Within the pages of Pa’s stories was an envelope. Scrawled on the front in his hand were the words, “Stamps Story“, and inside were 12 brown pages folded in half and neatly typed – the journey of a letter, from writer to recipient…

Fiction

Pa’s Miscellanea of Short Stories, contains 16 fictional stories of varying lengths, complete with his edit markups. Curiously, none are dated!

A Miscellanea of Short Stories: Contents Page

• Falito’ s Forgiveness
• Mr. Michael Muldoon
• Miss McCarthy’s “Reppitation”
• An Oriental Partnership
• A Tale of the Penance Track
• From Behind Stone Walls
• The Medium
• Rossi’s Inheritance
• Old Bob’s Burial
• The Derelicts
• A Love Retained
• The Bombshell
• Sheridan
• A Mystery Solved
• A Ghost There Was
• Signor Alfredo Mantolini

Some more. Encore!

• My Asian Partner: Pa’s prize winning short story!
• A Stake At Four Corners: A murder mystery at the gold-fields.
• Tales from Within the Walls: A jailbird recounts stories from the “inside”.
• The Least of Three: The hard-scrabble life of early Australian droving pioneers.

PA’s SPORTING STORIES

These short (and some very short!) articles were selected by Pa as being representative of many he had written – or could have written – as he had the research and the knowledge about all of the various athletes and sports mentioned. The first four pages (in the “Selection of Pa’s Sports Stories” link) contain a list of the headlines of his articles, indicating the wealth of sport subjects he possessed. Within that link may be found all the stories listed below. Please note, some pages may need to be rotated clock-wise to be read!

• A Selection of Pa’s Sports Stories: All the below stories provided in one document
• Emil Zatopek
• A Gallant Marathon Failure
• A Wavering Caber Upsets The Scots
• His Shot Was Dead Centre (but it didn’t count!)
• The Wizardry of Walter Lindrum
• Shades of Women’s “Lib” – 200 Years Ago
• The Story of the Test Cricket Ashes
• Gymnastics – An Ancient Recreation
• When Australasia, not Australia, Played the Davis Cup
• Football – An Ancient Pastime

PA’s HOTEL & INN STORIES

Tales of Taverns in the Victoria Colony:
A lengthy account of the history behind some of the best known breweries, hotels and characters in Victoria in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Tales of Taverns Part 1 (Chapters 1-5 plus introduction)
Tales of Taverns Part 2 (Chapters 6-10)
Tales of Taverns (Chapters 11-15 plus supplements)

Within Pa’s collection were several historical accounts of some famous, and not-so-famous, pubs, inns and hotels in London and scattered around the United Kingdom. Interspersed are some quotes and whimsy – and even several photos, uncredited and undated (but old!)…

Quotes about The English Inn
Historic Inns of England: Including Interesting London Pubs
Historic Inns of England (Part 2): A Guide to Some Famous Old Houses (incl. two undated and unattributed photos).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…as well as writing, Pa was a boat builder of long-standing! Read more here:

The Walsh Boats By Allen Walsh

 

Pa’s favourite poem was Thomas Gray’s Elegy in a Country Church-yard…

In Brian’s, Aunty Nancy’s and Uncle Allen’s Pages, you can read about Pa’s work in Darwin in the R.A.A.F. and (pictured below) in uniform in the back yard at Wales Street.

 

 

All material contained herein (C) 2008-2011. All rights reserved.