HAIGH, Gideon Clifford Jeffrey DavidsonWriter Gideon Haigh has cemented himself in the Australian journalism and sports fields. His prolific output has made him a well-known name in media, from his writing to panel appearances.
Gideon joined the staff at
The Age in 1984 where he worked until 1992. He then moved to the
Independent Monthly for a short time before joining the
The Australian from 1993-1998. During his time as a journalist at these publications, Gideon wrote extensively on sports, mostly cricket, and business topics. In 1992 he covered the Royal Commission into the Tricontinental Group of Companies.
Gideon then moved to freelance journalism, writing for many news publications, magazines, appearing on TV and radio, as well as authoring a number of books. An amateur cricketer himself, Gideon has written extensively on cricket. Titles include histories
The Cricket War and
Summer Game, and biographies,
The Big Ship (about Warwick Armstrong) and
Mystery Spinner (about Jack Iverson). He has covered the Ashes series and is a regular panellist on the ABC sports panel show
Offsiders. The book,
The Vincibles, is his story of the South Yarra Cricket Club of which he is life member.
Other works include
The Battle for BHP,
Asbestos House and
Bad Company.
Gideon has received many accolades for his writing, including being awarded the Jack Pollard Trophy for best Australian cricket book seven times; John Curtin Prize for Journalism in Victoria (Premiers Literary Award) 2006 for his essay “Information Idol: How Google is Making us Stupid”; Ned Kelly Award for True Crime for his book True Admissions: A Beach, A Body and a Lifetime of Secrets; Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction (NSW Premiers Literary Award) for The Office.
Gideon’s most recent works include:
The Brilliant Boy: Doc Evatt and the Great Australian Dissent (2021) and
The Momentous, Uneventful Day: A Requiem for the Office (2020).
Gideon was a student at The Geelong College from Form I in 1978 to Year 12 in 1983. A member of Morrison House, Gideon received House Colours for Cricket and Debating. In 1982 he received the ANZ Bank Economics Prize. A confident public speaker, Gideon won the state final of the Plain English Speaking Award competition and the School’s Stanley Calvert Prize for Public Speaking in 1982. In Year 12 he received School Colours for Public Speaking, was Morrison House Prefect and a member of the 1st Hockey Team. In year 12 he also wrote and performed in a satirical play
Julius Seizure as well as performing in Bertholt Brecht’s
Caucasian Chalk Circle.
Sources: Gideon Haigh website, Pegasus, OGC 1983.