Mem Fox

She got acquainted to Malcom Fox whom she met at the drama school in London, and they married in 1969. The couple are blessed with a daughter named Chloë Fox.

Chloë grew up to become a journalist, a teacher and finally a Member of Parliament for the state of Bright, South Australia.

In 1996, the ‘University of Wollongong’ honoured her with an honorary Doctorate of Letters. She also received honorary doctorates from the ‘University of Flinders’, South Australia and the ‘University of Technology’

Mem Fox was born on 5th March, 1946, to Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge and Nancy, in Melbourne, Australia, and was baptised Merrion Frances Partridge. When she was six months old, her family shifted to Africa. She has two younger sisters named Jan Delacourt and Alison Partridge.

Her parents were missionaries and father was employed at the ‘Hope Fountain Mission’ located in Zimbabwe (formerly known as Rhodesia). Thus, she spent her early years in the mission.

She received early education in a school where she was the only white child and had many friends who were African. However, the school authorities asked her parents to move her to a white school as it was unlawful for a white student to be among black students.

When she was six years old, she joined a school with only white students but she felt that she did not fit there. She did not have friends there and she was teased for her African-English accent.

She took up public speaking when she was in high school at the advice of her mother. This has probably helped her a lot in her later life.

In the drama school, she met Malcom Fox whom she later married. In 1969, the couple shifted to Rwanda where Malcom worked as a volunteer and Mem was engaged as teacher of English.

In 1970, the couple moved to Adelaide, South Australia, where her grandfather Wilfrid Partridge lived. There she joined the ‘Flinders University’ where she specialized in children’s literature.

At the university, she worked on an assignment which became the basis of her first book ‘Possum Magic’. This book was published in 1983, and ever since then, she has penned numerous books including children books and a few non-fictions.

During 1980s she authored books such 'Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge', 'A Cat called Kite', 'Zoo-Looking', 'Arabella, the Smallest Girl in the World', 'Hattie and the Fox', 'Just Like That', 'Sail Away: The Ballad of Skip and Nell'.

During the same period, she also wrote 'The Straight Line Wonder', 'A Bedtime Story', 'Goodnight Sleep Tight', 'Guess What?', 'Koala Lou', 'With Love at Christmas', 'Night Noises', 'Feathers and Fools', 'Shoes from Grandpa', 'Sophie'.

‘Possum Magic’ is the book with which Mem Fox made her debut as an author. The illustrations of this book were provided by Julie Vivas. This book met with some obstacle when publishers did not find it worth publishing. However, once it was published by the ‘Omnibus’ publisher, it gained much appreciation and even became a best-seller. This book even won the ‘New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards’ in 1984.