Dick Kimber

Richard Glyn Kimber (193916 September 2024) was an Australian historian and author who wrote extensively on the history, art, culture and wildlife of Central Australia. He published several books, the best known of which is Man From Arltunga: Walter Smith, Australian Bushman as well as more than 100 articles and essays. He also gave public lectures and made regular media appearances.

Early life and education Richard Glyn Kimber was born in 1939 at Freeling in South Australia.

From the mid-1990s, Kimber advised the National Museum of Australia, Museum Victoria and the Northern Territory Museum regarding Aboriginal artefacts and cultural practices, and the Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography.

He became friends with and learnt much from artist and community leader Wenten Rubuntja.

Other activities Kimber gave public lectures and made regular media appearances.

Recognition and honours Kimber was awarded an Order of Australia in 2001 for "services to the community through research projects and the recording of information of national interest in the areas of history, anthropology, Aboriginal art, ecology and land management practices in Central Australia".

He was awarded a Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa from the Charles Darwin University in 2006.

Personal life Kimber married scientist Margaret Friedel in 1975, and they had two children. In 1980, Kimber resigned from the Education Department, "becoming Alice Springs' first publicly acknowledged 'house-husband'" while continuing his active writing life.

Death and legacy Kimber died on 16 September 2024 after a long illness and,

Works 1988 - Wildbird dreaming: aboriginal art from the central deserts of Australia Nadine Amadio and Richard Kimber 1986 - Man from Arltunga: Walter Smith, Australian bushman republished 1990 1990 - Ancestor spirits: aspects of Australian Aboriginal life and spirituality by Max Charlesworth, Richard Kimber and Noel Wallace 1990 - Friendly country - friendly people : an exhibition of Aboriginal artworks from the peoples of the Tanami and Great Sandy Deserts : desert lands, desert peoples, desert art 1990 - Hunter-gatherer demography: the recent past in Central Australia 1991 - The end of the bad old days: European settlement in Central Australia, 1871-1894 2000 - M. N. Tjapaltjarri 2006 - Colliding worlds: first contact in the Western Desert 1932-1984, edited by Philip Batty with essays by Dick Kimber, Jeremy Long and John Kean