SECRETS OF THE BLACK KNIGHT'S LIBRARY

 Pete  Steedman's  book catalogue .

At last, the diverse  collection of  books amassed by  longtime  activist ,  former   ALP  MHR , media  commentator , publisher , mover  and  shaker in the  music  industry , Pete Steedman  , has  been  catalogued .    

That's  young  Pete  above ,  in  Melbourne , looking more like Marlon Brando before  Brando  started  wearing a  leather  jacket and  mumbling on  screen.

Because he  dressed  in  dark attire  ,without a tie, and was deeply involved in politics , Pete   was known as  the ALP's  Black Knight  in Melbourne . A  prominent   figure in   Melbourne's  university  student  press in  the l960s- editor of Lot's Wife and Farrago- he became   editor of  a  new national  magazine  , Broadside , for the Melbourne Age.  

It  ran  the  sensational   Gerald  Carr  comic strip , Fabula , a satirical  send up  of  the Australian political scene in  a  place named  Great Southern Land. Curvaceous  Fabula  ( inspired by the French bombshell Barbarella ) was plucked from the typing  pool to be  the private secretary to the  PM.  Readers who signed up for an annual subscription to the magazine received a  Fabula  poster  to  hang  in  a  prominent  place. 

Steedman  ,with  inside information about  what was going on in Canberra, fed Carr  with fuel for  the must read  Fabula's whip- lashing  experiences with pollies, a spy chief, somebody called Santa , even Tricky Dicky in the US of A. Carr, who also drew a  strip   about  a Chinese vampire named Fire-Fang, banned to the Australian  goldfields, built up a massive following here and  overseas , received  awards for his cartooning .

Lawyers who closely  perused  each  edition of  Broadside  warned  Fabula could be  taken  for Ainsley  Gotto , Prime Minister  John Gorton's  very  efficient  secretary .Two issues  of  the  magazine  were pulled by nervous  management , so Pete  resigned and  headed off  to  London  at  the start of the swinging l970s.

 A rare ,signed by Steedman , copy of the last issue of Broadside , below, which never hit the streets , is in the  Little Darwin  collection. It  ran  a photo of  teenager  Lindall Hobbs, who went on to become a film maker in  the UK and USA , on the front . There was also a heading   scornful  of   the  l969  federal election and a drawing of a  man whose  penis  was  a cannon, who today could  pass for the murderous  Russian  leader. 

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In London , Steedman  ran the controversial  Oz  magazine  office  while   the Australian owners were  fighting  an  obscenity charge  in court , shook up  coverage  of the Irish Troubles in the  media, campaigned to stop  part of  old Soho  being  demolished ,thwarted a new TV broadcasting licence going to commercial  interests. 

 Back  in  Australia , he  edited the  Victorian ALP  newspaper ,  was  sent  to Darwin  after Cyclone Tracy  to bring out a  special paper to keep the  tens of thousands  of residents who had been  evacuated  to various parts of the nation so that they would know what was happening in the shattered   city . As part of that assignment, he also drew up a  report  on the handling  of  the  disaster  (more later ) . He was elected to the Victorian seat of Casey in the Bob  Hawke government , dubbed Politician of the Year by the Canberra Times . 

Little Darwin was recently  given the privilege  of   looking through the entire  book catalogue  which  runs to nearly  5000  volumes . 

Here  beginneth  the  first revelation  about the   collection .   It might surprise  some to  learn  that  there  are  a considerable  number  on religion . He  explains  this  by  saying  religion was such a   force in the  world, you had  to know what  made  it, especially Christianity ,  tick . 

Pete, who admits to be  80, confessed the highest marks he got at school  were for  religion. This was due  to  the  fact  that  a gymnastics  teacher punished  kids who did not want to bounce about like an Indian rubber ball , Steedman one , by  sending them off  to religious studies.  He also admits  that the   Customs Department , the  protectors of  Australia's morals , used to frequently call him in , like a degenerate , when he was an editor , to explain why he was importing a   controversial   book  from  overseas,  which were  mainly political  . 

UPCOMING : A  close  look  at   Pete's  surprising , dusty  book  collection and  a  suggestion for a modern   whip cracking  Fabula   comic  strip  in  Canberra. .