AustLit

Ronald Conway grew up in Melbourne and studied at the University of Melbourne. A. D. Hope and Manning Clark (qq.v.) were among his teachers and Geoffrey Blainey, Vincent Buckley and Max Charlesworth (qq.v.) his student contemporaries.

Conway became a Roman Catholic during his teenage years; in his adult life he was an adviser on priestly vocations for the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne for more than forty years. He was described by Tony Abbott (q.v.) as a 'fellow traveller with B. A. Santamaria and James McAuley' (qq.v.).

Conway's career spanned work as a schoolteacher, a clinical psychologist and a university lecturer. He published several books on Australian societry including: The Great Australian Stupor: An Interpretation of the Australian Way of Life (1971), Land of the Long Weekend (1978), The End of Stupor?: Australia Towards the Third Millennium (1984) and The Rage for Utopia (1992).

Source: Tony Abbott, 'Philosopher of Hope and Truth', Weekend Australian (21-22 March 2009): 20.