Tony Park (author) explained

Tony Park (born 1964) is an international author of thriller and non-fiction books.[1] [2] Park has worked as a newspaper reporter, public relations consultant, freelance writer, and as a government press secretary, in addition to writing numerous novels and non-fiction books.[3] He also served in the Australian Army Reserve for 34 years, including a 6-month tour in Afghanistan in 2002 as a public affairs officer.[4]

Life and career

Park was born in 1964 in Taupō, New Zealand, he moved to Sydney, Australia at the age of three and grew up in Campbelltown[5] in South Western Sydney. Park attended Campbelltown Public School and Campbelltown East Public School.  Park also attended St Gregory's College, Campbelltown, and was awarded dux in 1981.[6] Park also did a journalism cadetship at The Glebe and Western Weekly newspaper in Glebe from 1984 to 1987. He worked as a journalist at the St George and Sutherland Shire Leader in 1987–88. He worked as a press secretary for NSW Premier Nick Greiner from 1988 to 1991.  He worked as press secretary for the NSW Minister for Justice and Police from 1991 to 1993. Park also worked as a journalist for the Bucks Herald and Bucks Advertiser newspapers in Buckinghamshire, UK, from 1993 to 1994. Park was a PR consultant for International Public Relations, Crows Nest, Sydney, from 1994 to 1996.

Park quit his job in 1996 and gave up his career as a journalist to follow his dream of being a full-time writer. His first novel, set in the outback during WWII, failed to get published.[7] Had a second attempt at writing a novel while travelling in Africa in 1998, and this one was accepted by Pan Macmillan Australia, and published in 2004 as Far Horizon.[8] He and his wife spend half of every year living in a private nature reserve near the Kruger National Park in South Africa.[9] [10] Park is an avid supporter of several charities concerned with wildlife and people in Africa, he is a patron of Painted Dog Conservation Inc., a charity that is dedicated to protecting the painted dog in Africa.

Military service

Tony Park served in the Australian Army Reserves in a variety of roles.[11]

1982–1984 served as a rifleman, Sydney University Regiment, Royal Australian Infantry

1984–1996 – served as an Air Dispatcher and Air Dispatch Crew Commander corporal  with 177 Air Dispatch Squadron, Royal Australian Corps of Transport

1996 – 2016 – served as a captain in the Australian Army Public Relations Service, including brief deployments to Papua New Guinea and Easter Timor.  In 2002 served as the Public Affairs Officer for the Australian Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan from July–December 2002.

Novels

Tony Park is the author of 19 novels set in Africa and six non fiction biographies. Park combines his background as a major in the Australia Army Reserve and his love of Africa to write his novels.

Fiction

Non fiction

Linked Books

Influences

Park has said that his favourite author of fiction set in Africa is John Gordon Davis, whose first novel, Hold My Hand I'm Dying, set in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was an international bestseller.[12] [13] [14] Park also wrote the foreword to ‘Hold My Hand’, a biography of Gordon Davis, by David Hilton- Barber.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Allison . Josephine . 8 July 2020 . Tracking down the dark world of cycad theft in new Tony Park thriller . 17 November 2020 . Have a Go News . en-AU.
  2. Web site: Woodhead . Cameron . 31 July 2020 . Fiction reviews: The Extraordinaries and other titles . 18 November 2020 . . en.
  3. Web site: Sears . Michael . 6 April 2020 . Two thrillers in one, as Tony Park heads to Namibia and a search for lost gold . 18 November 2020 . . en-ZA.
  4. Web site: Carr . Michaela . 21 February 2016 . Creative writing helping military vets deal with PTSD . 18 November 2020 . . en-AU.
  5. Web site: Purcell . John . 19 July 2010 . Tony Park, author of The Delta, answers Ten Terrifying Questions . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190513024340/https://www.booktopia.com.au/blog/2010/07/19/tony-park-author-of-the-delta-answers-ten-terrifying-questions/ . 13 May 2019 . 4 February 2024 . . en-AU .
  6. Web site: "Marist Alumni" . Marist Schools Australia. 24 July 2024.
  7. Web site: Khoo . Valerie . 11 August 2019 . Ep 293 We chat to Tony Park, bestselling author of 'Ghosts of the Past' Australian Writers' Centre blog . 27 January 2021 . Australian Writers' Centre . en-AU.
  8. Web site: Tony Park . 27 January 2021 . . en-AU.
  9. Web site: Auld . Sophia . 3 April 2019 . From Sydney to South Africa: The couple who split their year between two worlds . 18 November 2020 . Domain . en-AU.
  10. Web site: Gainsford . Jim . 3 November 2015 . Out of Africa and back in the shire: Author Tony Park launches 12th novel . 18 November 2020 . St George & Sutherland Shire Leader . en-AU.
  11. Web site: Lloyd . Alex . 7 July 2020 . #81 Tony Park . 27 January 2021 . Life on the Line Podcast . en-US.
  12. Web site: Allison . Peter . 21 December 2015 . Author Tony Park's Inspiration For 'An Empty Coast' . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20171103115425/https://wilderness-safaris.com/blog/posts/author-tony-park-s-inspiration-for-an-empty-coast . 3 November 2017 . 4 February 2024 . Wilderness Safaris . en .
  13. Web site: 18 November 2018 . Q&A with Tony Park, author of Scent of Fear . 28 January 2021 . . en.
  14. Web site: McDuling . Sarah . 8 November 2018 . Q&A with Tony Park . 28 January 2021 . . en-AU.

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