1. Morris Langlo West was an Australian novelist and playwright, best known for his novels The Devil's Advocate, The Shoes of the Fisherman and The Clowns of God.
35 Facts About Morris West
1. 2.
Morris West's books were published in 27 languages and sold more than 60 million copies worldwide.
3.
Morris West was born in St Kilda, Victoria, the son of a commercial salesman.
4.
Morris West attended the Christian Brothers College, St Kilda where he was awarded the prize of Dux by Archbishop Daniel Mannix in 1929.
5.
At the age of 14, Morris West entered the Congregation of Christian Brothers community at St Patricks in Strathfield, Sydney, "as a kind of refuge" from a difficult childhood.
6.
Morris West taught at schools in Tasmania and New South Wales between 1937 and 1939, while studying at the University of Tasmania.
7.
Morris West was commissioned as a lieutenant and worked as a cipher officer, being eventually posted to Gladesville, New South Wales, in 1944.
8.
Morris West was seconded from the RAAF to work for Billy Hughes, former Australian prime minister, for a time.
9.
Morris West's first published novel, Moon in My Pocket, came out in 1945 using the pseudonym "Julian Morris".
10.
Morris West worked as publicity manager at Melbourne radio station 3DB.
11.
Morris West moved into radio drama, setting up his own radio production company ARP, which operated from 1945 to 1954.
12.
The workload of his job and a crisis in his marital relations led to Morris West having a nervous breakdown.
13.
Morris West ultimately sold his company to focus on writing full-time.
14.
Morris West followed it with Kundu, a New Guinea adventure written in three weeks.
15.
Morris West was to show that he could identify these concerns with considerable acuity.
16.
Morris West wrote The Second Victory and under the pseudonym "Michael East" wrote McCreary Moves In aka The Concubine.
17.
Morris West's first best-selling novel was The Devil's Advocate which he spent two years writing.
18.
Morris West sold the film rights for $250,000 and it was adapted into a play and later a film.
19.
Morris West later said the novel earned him several million dollars.
20.
Morris West wrote another "Michael East" novel, The Naked Country, which was filmed in the 1980s.
21.
Morris West followed it with The Ambassador, The Tower of Babel, Summer of the Red Wolf and The Salamander.
22.
Morris West wrote a non-fiction book, Scandal in the Assembly: A Bill of Complaints and a Proposal for Reform of the Matrimonial Laws and Tribunals of the Roman Catholic Church.
23.
Morris West wrote a play The Heretic, based on Giordano Bruno, which was performed on the London stage in 1973.
24.
Morris West wrote the play The World is Made of Glass in 1982 for the Adelaide Festival.
25.
Morris West turned this into a novel which was published the following year.
26.
In 1993, Morris West announced that he had written his last book and a formal valedictory dinner was held in his honour.
27.
Morris West was working on the novel The Last Confession when he died; it was posthumously published in 2000.
28.
Morris West was awarded the 1959 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Devil's Advocate.
29.
Morris West and his first wife, Elizabeth Harvey, had two children: Elizabeth, who became a nun, and Julian who was a wine-maker before his death in 2005.
30.
Morris West was out of communion with the Roman Catholic Church for many years because of this marital situation, and he had significant issues with the church's teachings.
31.
Joy Morris West said that he was a believer who attended Mass every Sunday.
32.
Morris West's grandson Anthony Morris West is a musician, who fronted the UK music band Futures and currently is in the UK group Oh Wonder.
33.
Morris West died at the age of 83 on 9 October 1999 in Clareville, New South Wales.
34.
Morris West was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours of 1985.
35.
Morris West was upgraded to Officer of the Order in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1997.