Tony Parsons (Australian author) explained

Anthony David Parsons OAM is an Australian author and kelpie breeder.

He founded the well-known Kelpie stud “Karrawarra” in 1950 and has gone on to become the breed's most passionate and hardest working advocate.^[1] Before that, he was a professional sheep and wool classer.^[2] Don Burke said that Tony Parsons has done more to developing the Kelpie as a working dog than anyone else.^[3] Kelpie breeder Jan Lowing says that "Parsons (Karrawarra) was responsible for seeking out and preserving Kelpie bloodlines after the fiasco of two World Wars, during which many ‘studs’ disappeared".^[4]

Parsons spent time in the Mudgee area 300 km north west of Sydney up to 1972,^[5] and based several of his fiction books in the region. He subsequently lived at East Greenmount, Queensland near Toowoomba^[6] where his Kelpie stud is located.

Bibliography^[7]

Novels

• The call of the high country (1991) - Penguin, Ringwood Vic,
• Return to the high country (2001) - Penguin, Ringwood Vic,
• Silver in the sun (2007) - Viking, Camberwell Vic.,
• The bird smugglers of Mountain View (2008)
• Valley of the white gold (2011) - Penguin, Camberwell Vic.,
• Back to the Pilliga (2013) - Allen & Unwin, Sydney,
• Return to Moondilla (2015) - Arena Books, Crows Nest, NSW,

Non-fiction

• The Working Kelpie (1986) - Nelson, Melbourne,
• Training the working kelpie (1990) - Viking O'Neil, Ringwood, Vic.,
• The Australian kelpie : the essential guide to the Australian working dog (1992) - Viking O'Neil, Richmond, Vic.,
• The kelpie (2010) – Penguin Group Australia,

Awards

In 1992, he was awarded the prestigious Medal of the Order of Australia for his “contribution to the propagation of the Australian Kelpie sheep dog”.^[8]

External links

• Tony Parsons - Allen & Unwin

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kelpie breeder pens another book . The Chronicle, Toowoomba . 2010-08-13 . 2017-10-01.
2. Web site: Guest Blog: Tony Parsons . 31 August 2010 . Fleur McDonald . 2017-09-29.
3. Web site: Burke's Backyard, Working Kelpie Road Test . . 2014-02-20 . 2017-10-02.
4. Web site: About Us . Karmala Kelpies . 2017-10-02.
5. Book: Parsons. Tony. Valley of the White Gold. 2006. Penguin Viking. Camberwell Vic. 0-670-02987-4. v-vi.
6. Web site: Tony Parsons . Penguin Books . 2017-10-02.
7. Web site: Catalogue National Library of Australia . National Library of Australia . 2017-09-29.
8. Web site: Award extract - Australian honours - Anthony David Parsons . Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet . 2021-04-16.