2025 PROGRAM
The Natural: Richard 'Dick' Thornett's Sporting Life
DATE:
Saturday 29th March
LOCATION:
Darley Smith Building
COST:
$22
Richard ‘Dick’ Thornett was a sporting prodigy who displayed exceptional skills as a schoolboy, which only grew in adulthood. The youngest of three athletic brothers, Thornett represented Australia at the Rome Olympics in water polo, toured with the Wallabies to South Africa and New Zealand alongside his brother John, and, with Ken, played a crucial role in the Kangaroos’ success in 1963-64. When it came to sport, Dick Thornett had the X-factor. However, despite his widely praised athletic abilities, he endured significant personal struggles.
Brendan Morris and Stephan Wellink’s biography, The Natural – Richard ‘Dick’ Thornett, will be published in March.
Host: Tim Ayliffe
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
The Manly Writers' Festival acknowledges and thanks the original storytellers on the lands on which our events take place, the Gameraygal people of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge and respect their continuing connection and culture, and we pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, past and present, as well as emerging leaders.