Dorothy Wall

Dorothy Wall
Born	12 January 1894 Wellington, New Zealand
Died	21 January 1942 Cremorne, New South Wales
Occupation	author, illustrator
Nationality	New Zealand Australian
Period	1920-1942
Genres	Children's literature

Dorothy Wall (12 January 1894 - 21 January 1942) was a New Zealand-born author and illustrator of children's fiction books. She is most famous for creating Blinky Bill, an anthropomorphic koala who was the central character in her books Blinky Bill: the Quaint Little Australian (1933), Blinky Bill Grows Up (1934) and Blinky Bill and Nutsy (1937).

Wall was born in Wellington, New Zealand on 12 January 1894 and won scholarships for her art at the age of 10. She migrated to Australia in 1914 and worked for the Sun newspaper in Sydney. In 1920 her first children's story "Tommy Bear and the Zookies" was published and the following year she married Andrew Delfosse Badgery.^[1] The same year Wall found some acclaim for her illustrations in J.J. Hall's book "The Crystal Bowl".

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s she continued to work as an illustrator. Her best known book Blinky Bill: the Quaint Little Australian was published in 1933. In 1934 she divorced Badgery and moved with her son to Warrimoo in the Blue Mountains where she completed two more Blinky Bill books, Blinky Bill Grows Up and Blinky Bill and Nutsy. Despite Blinky Bill's popularity Wall experienced financial difficulties and was forced to fall back on her skills as an artist. Angus & Robertson, Ltd., her publishers at the time, provided her with work illustrating book jackets.^[2]

Suffering from depression and with failing health, Wall returned to New Zealand in 1937 where she became an illustrator for the New Zealand Herald and the Auckland Weekly News. Over the next few years both her health and her financial situation improved, aided no doubt by the publishing of The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill in 1939. In July 1941 Wall moved back to Sydney and the country she loved so much, but her health quickly deteriorated and on 21 January 1942 she died of pneumonia at her home in Cremorne. She was buried in Northern Suburbs cemetery.

In 1985 a postage stamp honouring Wall or her creation, Blinky Bill, was issued by Australia Post as part of a set of five commemorating children's books. [2].

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120406b.htm Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition

See also

Children's literature portal

Persondata
Name	Wall, Dorothy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	12 January 1894
Place of birth	Wellington, New Zealand
Date of death	21 January 1942
Place of death	Cremorne, New South Wales