Sad news in this morning is the passing of Australian journalist/writer Richard Neville, best known as the co-founder of the iconoclastic and era-defining ‘60’s magazine Oz.
Neville, together with friends Martin Sharp and Richard Walsh, founded the magazine in Sydney in 1963 to push the conservative boundaries of mainstream Australia. They quickly found themselves in trouble with the law, but their notoriety gave them a strong public profile to work off. Neville took the magazine to London in 1966, where it found even greater success and greater notoriety.
Oz stood alongside the Beatles and Stones at the vanguard of social change in Swinging London. Martin Sharp famously went on to illustrate album covers for Cream and become one of Australia’s great visual artists; Richard Neville became widely known as a writer and social commentator beyond the magazine’s reach.
Neville & his London co-editors were charged with "conspiracy to corrupt public morals" in the UK and their trial in 1971 was the longest obscenity trial in British history. John & Yoko were amongst their high profile champions.
Oz eventually folded in 1973. By ’74 Neville was back in Australia working for the ABC; in 1977 he was working in New York.
For all the controversy, by 1980 he was back in Sydney and a social commentator for Channel 9’s daytime ‘Mike Walsh Show’. He continued his writing and social activism in various capacities for the rest of his working life. He passed away yesterday, September 4, having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Richard Neville in his own words, sharing memories of the beginnings of the magazine.
In 2014 Richard Neville organised for the complete run of Oz magazines to be available for free download:
Oz Magazine, Sydney
Oz Magazine, London
Journalist Peter Luck compiled this profile on Richard Neville for the ABC in 1970, click to watch:
Published on April Fool's Day 1963, the first issue of the magazine sold 6,000 copies by lunchtime on the first day it hit the streets.
