Thomas Keneally Schepisi's "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith" (1978) (based on his own novel) and played Father Marshall in the award-winning film "The Devil's Playground" (1976), also by Schepisi. In 1983, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). He is an Australian Living Treasure. Keneally was a member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council from 1985 to 1988 and President of the National Book Council from 1985 to 1989. Keneally was a visiting professor at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) where he taught the graduate fiction workshop for one quarter in 1985. From 1991 to
Bill Thomas (author) Bill Thomas (author) Bill Thomas (November 11, 1934 – June 3, 2009) was an American author and photojournalist, the son of William Roy Thomas and Margaret Elizabeth (Crabtree) Thomas born on the family farm near Glendale, Kentucky. Thomas reported for the Park City Daily News, while attending Western Kentucky University. Upon graduation, he accepted a commission in the US Army Reserve, and trained in 1958 at Ft. Holobird, Maryland. Thomas was later employed by United Press International in Louisville, Kentucky, and then the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1962. He was promoted to Travel Editor at the Enquirer. Thomas left the Enquirer