Peter Cundall
December 5, 2021 7:36 PM Subscribe
Peter Cundall, the host (1990–2008) of the ABC's Gardening Australia, and host of gardening programs since 1967, has died.
As well as a horticulturalist and TV and radio presenter, he was an environmental and anti-war activist, most recently arrested at anti-pulp mill protests in Tasmania. A veteran of the Second World and Korean Wars, he guarded former SS guards in liberated concentration camps in Europe, was briefly an accidental POW in Yugoslavia, and became a pacifist as the result of his experiences. He stood for the Senate as a Communist in the 1961 Federal Election, but claimed not to have even voted for himself. In these 2004 and 2005 interviews (transcribed, and which contain accounts of the holocaust, domestic violence, and war) he recounts his early life and career.
As well as a horticulturalist and TV and radio presenter, he was an environmental and anti-war activist, most recently arrested at anti-pulp mill protests in Tasmania. A veteran of the Second World and Korean Wars, he guarded former SS guards in liberated concentration camps in Europe, was briefly an accidental POW in Yugoslavia, and became a pacifist as the result of his experiences. He stood for the Senate as a Communist in the 1961 Federal Election, but claimed not to have even voted for himself. In these 2004 and 2005 interviews (transcribed, and which contain accounts of the holocaust, domestic violence, and war) he recounts his early life and career.
An absolute national treasure, and an excellent human being. He exuded kindness and gentleness but also had a steel and firmness to him. Watching how polite he was when he was arrested!
"That's your bloomin' lot. " was what he used to say at the end of Gardening Australia programs and I feel like it's a fitting epitaph.
posted by freethefeet at 9:32 PM on December 5, 2021 [7 favorites]
"That's your bloomin' lot. " was what he used to say at the end of Gardening Australia programs and I feel like it's a fitting epitaph.
posted by freethefeet at 9:32 PM on December 5, 2021 [7 favorites]
When I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, he was part of the local ABC landscape of my home state of Tasmania. Our family used to call him "Peter Crumble", which seems appropriate; like apple crumble, he was warm and English and delightful.
It was great when he took his TV show Australia-wide in 1990—one of those moments when our small state felt like a proper part of the national conversation. Good, too, to read today that he kept broadcasting on ABC Radio in Tassie until 2019: fifty years of continuous radio presenting.
posted by rory at 2:16 AM on December 6, 2021
It was great when he took his TV show Australia-wide in 1990—one of those moments when our small state felt like a proper part of the national conversation. Good, too, to read today that he kept broadcasting on ABC Radio in Tassie until 2019: fifty years of continuous radio presenting.
posted by rory at 2:16 AM on December 6, 2021
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posted by Trivia Newton John at 3:14 AM on December 6, 2021
posted by Trivia Newton John at 3:14 AM on December 6, 2021
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posted by threecheesetrees at 3:25 AM on December 6, 2021
posted by threecheesetrees at 3:25 AM on December 6, 2021
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Today I learnt that Peter Cundall developed a pumpkin variety called "Bloomin' Lot". I'll be hunting down seeds for sure.
posted by pipstar at 3:30 AM on December 6, 2021
Today I learnt that Peter Cundall developed a pumpkin variety called "Bloomin' Lot". I'll be hunting down seeds for sure.
posted by pipstar at 3:30 AM on December 6, 2021
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posted by Barbara Spitzer at 4:37 PM on December 6, 2021
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 4:37 PM on December 6, 2021
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