John Harper-Nelson (24 works by)
Also writes as: Ross MacLaine ; J. H-N
Born: Established: 13 Jan 1922 Cheltenham ;
Gender: Male
BAL: Non-AustLit stuff from Who's Who (not in Kinetica): 'You Go You're Closer : A theatrical biography' (1991) [a monograph; no pubn. details]; and screenplays which seem to be unpublished, again from Who's Who: 'Worth the Risk' (1947); 'Watoto Waleo' (1949); 'Infantryman' (1948); 'Survival' (1951); 'Locust Control' (1951), as well as "numerous other documentary and training films". He has also written a number of scripts for radio and TV. LH 16.02.03. Note that this agent's 'Anthology of North-West Writing', which appears in AustLit, does not appear in Kinetica - no bibli details available for it. Non-AustLit items from Kinetica: 'An ABC of announcing and public speaking', with illustrations by Doug Foley, Perth, W.A. : Artlook Books, c1982. I would guess from the title it's a guide to being a radio announcer, especially considering the agent's bio. So this is non-AustLit anyway, and is more educational than literary. I've also deleted 'A Line on Kalamunda' from AustLit as it is a local history. Details from Kinetica on this one are: 'A line on Kalamunda', compiled and edited by John Harper-Nelson ; with illustrations by Kalamunda and Districts Arts and Crafts Group. East Perth, W.A. :Nine Club ; Kalamunda, W.A. : distributed by Kalamunda and Districts Historical Society, 1978 (reprinted 1989); 'Government and the arts', Perth, W.A. : Australian Institute for Public Policy, 1987; 'Organic gardening : a transcript of a meeting held at Lesmurdie Community Hall', chairman, John Harper-Nelson, [n.p] : [n.p], 1976; 'The Clay brick heritage' [videorecording], Perth, W.A. : Produced for the Clay Brick Manufacturers Assoc. of W.A. by Film Centre Pty Ltd., [198-?] Physical Description 1 videocassette (VHS) (11 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. Performer Note Presenter: John Harper-Nelson; 'Professor A. D. Hope' [videorecording], with John Harper-Nelson, Canberra : Instructional Resources Unit, c1984; 'Professor Manning Clark' [videorecording] with John Harper-Nelson, Canberra :Instructional Resources Unit, c1984; 'Dr. H. C. Coombs',[videorecording], [interviewed by] John Harper-Nelson, Canberra :Instructional Resources Unit, c1984; 'This is Geoffrey Blainey', [videorecording][interviewed by] John Harper-Nelson, Perth, W.A. : Christensen Fund, 1986; 'This is Joh Bjelke-Petersen',[videorecording], interviewed by John Harper-Nelson, [Perth, W.A.] : Christensen Fund, c1984. Using his Alt. Writing Name of Ross MacLaine, he co-wrote the script for 'The Next line down', [videorecording], [Western Australia] : Westrail, [1981] LH 17.02.03. RE Galloping On: As WA holds some vols and it is difficult to disentangle some of the refs to the different eds, DM is working on sighting Vols 1,3,4,5,6,7,8&9 at the Battye Library. NLA has Vol 12 and Kinetica says there are copies of Vol 2 in Vic, NSW & ACT. DM points out that Vol 11 might be a Roman numeral version of Vol 2. Sorry this one is so messy. LH 18.03.03

BiographyHistory

John Harper-Nelson arrived in Western Australia in 1962, having been educated at Cheltenham and Oxford. For many years, he was a popular ABC radio and television announcer, until his retirement in 1981. He has also served as a Kalamunda Shire Councillor. Harper-Nelson has contributed to numerous Australian and international cultural journals, and has written in the areas of biography, literary criticism and local history. He has also written scripts for film, television and radio.

Harper-Nelson's papers are held by the JS Battye Library (MN1073).