Dunbar Lunch

Date: 20 August 2024

Time: 12pm

Cost: $95pp

“Dunbar’s Lost Souls”

When the magnificent and seemingly indestructible sailing clipper Dunbar was wrecked on the cliffs of South Head around midnight on August 20, 1857, and 121 passengers and crew perished, it was a stab to the heart of Sydney Town. Never had there been such a calamity in the colony. 

Today, award-winning Sydney-based author Larry Writer, who spent three years researching and writing his best-selling book The Shipwreck, will recreate the Dunbar tragedy, deep diving into the causes of the disaster and the massive maritime changes for the better that came in its wake.

As a result of his research, Larry is able to rescue from anonymity a number of the largely unknown victims. These lost souls – flesh and blood high-achieving lovers and dreamers – deserve to be acknowledged. They were so very much more than the mere statistics they have been for so long.

Guest Speaker

Larry Writer

Larry Writer is the author of the Ned Kelly Award-winning Razor: Tilly Devine, Kate Leigh and the Razor Gangs; Dangerous Games: Australia at the 1936 Nazi Olympics which was short-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year; the Mark and Evette Moran NIB History Prize-winning Cecil Healy: A Biography; Pitched Battle: In the Frontline of the 1971 Springbok Tour of Australia; Never Before, Never Again, the story of St George’s 11 rugby league premierships 1956-66. Larry has also collaborated with Rod Laver, John Newcombe and rock star Chrissy Amphlett on their memoirs. Earlier in his career he was London bureau chief for Australian Consolidated Press and Time Inc Australia.