RiP Brian Johns
Brian Johns, former Penguin Books director and managing director of the ABC, has died, aged 79.
Johns joined Penguin Books as publishing director in 1979, expanding the publisher’s list to include Australian authors such as Elizabeth Jolley, Thea Astley and many others.
Johns also served as the director and then chairman of the Copyright Agency, where he spent 13 years on the board; the managing director of the ABC and SBS; chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Authority; chief political correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian; and a director on the board of Melbourne University Publishing.
In her remembrance of Johns for Meanjin, writer, editor and founding director of McPhee Gribble Publishers Hilary McPhee writes:
‘Brian read and discussed what we published and pressed copies on his friends. Word-of-mouth we called it, knowing it was superior to any marketing campaign and Brian was a master of good talk. We did the same for his list at Penguin when his revolution began and Penguin was open for original fiction and opinionated non-fiction and polemic. He published Elizabeth Jolley, Blanche d’Alpuget, Thea Astley, David Ireland, Rodney Hall and Frank Moorhouse and many more besides.’
Copyright Agency CEO Adam Suckling also paid tribute to Johns’ contributions to the organisation:
‘Brian was a staunch promoter of the importance of an effective copyright regime to respect the rights of creators, and to enable the ongoing production of books, journals, newspapers, visual art, films, television and music.
‘His lifelong commitment to Australian creativity has meant that the lot of creators across the country to produce great work has been enhanced, which has deeply enriched our culture and our understanding of what it means to be Australian.’
Category: Obituaries
