On 11 October 2021 at Royal North Shore Hospital Brian Wilder passed away. His wife Helen, their son Martijn, daughter Kate and her partner, and two grandsons were by his bedside. Brian’s humanity was his armour, and his forthrightness was his sword.
Brian was a leader in the Australian publishing industry for almost forty years, including his appointment as Managing Director of Harper and Row, a Director of McGraw Hill and a Director of MUP (Melbourne University Press). He remained a respected Australian publishing industry elder after his retirement.
IMAGE L-R: Mary Jones, Peter Jones, Geoff Bailey, Nick Hollo, Brian Wilder, Julie Goodsir, Tony MacCormick, Linda Bergin, Jack Mundey, Kate Eccles, Brian Bergin, in 2012 on a tour of the headland.
Brian was an active member of HPG during the original community campaign in the late 1990s to save what are now Sydney Harbour Federation Trust public parklands and heritage sites. Brian, a long-time committee member, was President of HPG in 2007. He continued his passionate involvement in protecting Trust lands from the recurring threats of insufficient funding and unsolicited proposals for private ventures and exclusive uses.
Brian’s great intellect, deep cultural roots, scholarship inter alia in Australian history, and confidence from his commercial success in publishing (including The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough) contributed to his powerful and fearless defence of Harbour Trust lands at Middle Head, Mosman; “our glorious headland”, “a sacred place” and “a real parkland for everyone to enjoy”. He resisted commercialisation and privatisation at every turn.
Brian’s legacy to the community lies in his commitment to social and environmental advocacy. He liked to challenge his friends and confront his adversaries on these issues. He wrote with the clarity with which he spoke. He was loved and will be sorely missed.
by Michael Mangold & Annabella Fletcher