Farewell Alf Taylor (18/11/1945 – 29/7/2023)

Farewell Alf Taylor (18/11/1945 – 29/7/2023)

Poet, short story writer and memoirist, Alf Taylor was the leading Noongar writer of his generation. His brutal upbringing in New Norcia Mission from the ages of 5 to 15 is brilliantly told in God, the Devil, and Me. The book is by turns horrifying and hilarious, detailing beatings but leavened by a surrealistic rewriting of the Bible. It reflects Alf’s personality; he was imaginative, friendly, gentle and kind, with an extraordinary sense of humour. Alf never bore resentments and was entirely in favour of Reconciliation.

Thanks go to Osboine Aged Care where he described the nurses as “angels”.

The funeral will be held from 2.30 pm to 4.30pm on Tuesday 8 August at the West Chapel of Fremantle Cemetery.

A later celebration of Alf’s life and work will be held at the Centre for Stories.

[text and photo by Dennis Haskell]

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