Glenn A. Baker to be awarded the Order of Australia

“I have always joked that I suppose I could add the letters RBU after my name (no, not Random Breath Unit but Rock Brain of the Universe) but now I have a formally recognized appendage; one of which I am rather proud”, Baker wrote on his Facebook page.

“I have been in the workforce for over 50 years, pursuing my passions ceaselessly, making my career up as I went along. But it is never far from my mind that I could have ended up fitting widgets to wadgets on the GMH assembly line, as the old saying goes. I have had a fairly blessed life (though to those who have said over the years that I am lucky to pursue the life I do, I have been inclined to respond: “And you know, the harder I work, the luckier I get.”)

“I’m saddened by the fact that my mother Joyce did not get to see this. We lost her late last year, not long before she would have turned 90. However, Lorelle – to whom I was fortunate enough to be married to for 36 years and who enabled me to do so many things – is roaring on wonderfully.

“My six children who so often wondered while growing up just what it was that their old man actually did, now have some evidence that somebody out there must have been reading and hearing the words I sent out (endlessly!). As I told them, have told their children and have told young people I have been asked to speak with or address: you can do anything that you want to do, if you want to do it badly enough.”

A fitting tribute for one of Australia’s finest writers. Congratulations, Glenn.