Charles Donald Talbot

Charles Donald Talbot (11 October 1933 – 16 July 2022) was an Australian author based in Toowoomba, Queensland.

Early life and career Talbot was born in Manchester, England on 11 October 1933. He trained as a journalist on the Isle of Man before moving to Australia in 1953. He worked on newspapers and magazines and spent 17 years with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation working with Radio Australia, and ABC national radio and television in Victoria and Queensland. He implemented the first radio news service for Aborigines and Islanders for the ABC in Mackay in 1981, and worked at the ABC in Toowoomba for several years.

Before settling in Toowoomba, Don spent three years in Canberra as a specialist writer on trade matters with the Australian Department of Overseas Trade.

In 1982, he was employed by The Chronicle (Toowoomba) and his duties ranged from feature writer to pictorial editor and sub-editor. He edited his own newspaper The Lockyer Journal (1986–89), before becoming the first Press officer at the University of Southern Queensland. He wrote media press releases and edited the university's first staff newspaper, the Phoenix Gazette.

Upon his retirement in 1993 Talbot began to concentrate on writing books and special articles.

Don wrote historical and biographical books, with particular focus on the people and places in Toowoomba and the surrounding Darling Downs area.

Personal life and death Talbot was a past President of the Toowoomba Historical Society, his tenure lasting from 1999 to 2000. He was married to Patricia, and they had two sons and one daughter.

Talbot died in Toowoomba on 16 July 2022, at the age of 88.