Draft:JJ McRoach
Jay Jerilderie McRoach (born Piotr Olszewski, 12 May 1948 - 9 April 2024)[1] was an Australian writer, journalist and cannabis use activist. Also known as Peter Olszewski[1],...[2][3][4][5][6]
Life and career[edit]
McRoach was born in Poland into a German-Polish family and moved to Australia when he was one-year old.[1] He spent his childhood in Maryborough, Victoria where he began going by the name Peter rather than the Polish Piotr.[1]
In the 1960s and 1970s, McRoach was part of the Carlton Push, a group of artists, performers and intellectuals involved with theatres, publishing houses and other establishments in Carlton.[1]
McRoach was a admirer of American writer Hunter S. Thompson and accompanied the writer as his publicity director on a ten-day tour of Australia in 1976.[1][3][7] An account of the tour was later published by McRoach in his 1979 book Dozen Dopey Yarns.[2]
McRoach was a founder of the Australian Marijuana Party.[7] In the 1977 federal election, McRoach legally changed his name to JJ McRoach to run for the Australian Senate as a candidate for the party.[1] JJ was slang for a cannabis cigarette. However, McRoach explained that it stood for Jay, a reference to a joint, and Jerilderie, the Victorian town known for its association with Ned Kelly.[1] He received a total of 14,383 votes.[3]
McRoach reverted back to using the Olszewski name again later in his career.[3]
Bibliography[edit]
- Dozen Dopey Yarns: Tales from the pot prohibition (Australian Marijuana Party, 1979)
- A Salute to the Humble Yabby (Angus & Robertson, 1980)[1]
- Cheap Eats in Melbourne (1984)[6]
- Land of a Thousand Eyes: The Subtle Pleasures of Everyday Life in Myanmar (Crows Nest, 2005)[1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Langsam, David (2024-04-14). "Legendary JJ McRoach at the centre of 'the Carlton Push'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
- ^ a b Coupe, Stuart (2012). The Promoters: Inside stories from the Australian rock industry. Hachette Australia. ISBN 978-0-7336-2925-9.
- ^ a b c d Maloney, Shane; Grosz, Chris (July 2012). "JJ McRoach & Hunter S Thompson". The Monthly.
- ^ "Veteran journalist Peter Olszewski passes away - Khmer Times". 2024-04-10. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
- ^ McGeady, Mark (February 2003). "Review: Writing Dissent, Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream". Media International Australia. 106 (1): 162–163. doi:10.1177/1329878X0310600121. ISSN 1329-878X.
- ^ a b Who's Who of Australian Writers. D.W. Thorpe. 1991. p. 410. ISBN 978-0-909532-81-9.
- ^ a b Fuller, Amy Elisabeth, ed. (2008). "Olszewski, Peter 1948-". Contemporary Authors. Vol. 258. Gale eBooks. p. 267.