David Ballantyne
David Watt Ballantyne (14 June 1924 – 24 February 1986) was a New Zealand journalist, novelist and short-story writer. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand on 14 June 1924.[1] After a brief episode in the military and after not completing his medical studies, he began his career as a journalist at the Auckland Star. In 1948 he published his first novel, The Cunninghams in the United States. He finished Freeman’s Bay, a novel about Auckland working-class life, in 1950, but it was not accepted by either his American or his New Zealand publisher.[1]
He married the painter Jean Vivienne Margaret Heise in 1950, with whom he had a son. In 1954 he moved with his family to London, where he continued working as a journalist and author. In 1966, the family returned to New Zealand. Ballantyne died at his home in Ponsonby in inner-city Auckland in 1986.[1]
He published eight novels, of which the first The Cunninghams and the fifth, Sydney Bridge Upside Down are recognised as New Zealand literary classics.
Novels by David Ballantyne
- The Cunninghams (1948)
- The Last Pioneer (1963)
- A Friend of the Family (1966)
- Sydney Bridge Upside Down (1968)
- The Talkback Man (1978)
- The Penfriend (1980)
- And the Glory (1983)
References
- 1 2 3 Moisa, Christodoulos E.G. (2012). "Ballantyne, David Watt". Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved February 23, 2016.