AustLit

Mervyn Rutherford was educated at Fort Street Opportunity School and North Sydney Technical School. He left school at fourteen and became an apprentice telephone technician. In 1954 he was called up for national service and then had a career as a heavyweight boxer. In 1957 Rutherford joined the NSW Police Force and, after a series of football injuries, was dismissed from it. He was later reinstated and transferred to Cowra where he began studying and writing.

Rutherford wrote an unpublished novel, 'The Thin Blue Line' and his first play, 'The Training Run'. He gained a Higher School Certificate with honours and after a period as a Police College lecturer, resigned from the Police Force in 1965. After several short term jobs he became an industrial advocate and in 1973 was admitted to the Bar and practiced as a barrister in Sydney. He went on to write a televised drama, 'The Slammer' (1980).

(Source: Information on the author inside the front cover of The Departmental (1979)).