Michael Noonan, New Zealand-Australian author and screenwriter (b. 1921)
Michael John Noonan (19 September 1921 in Sumner, near Christchurch, New Zealand — 4 March 2000 in Brisbane) was an Australian / New Zealand novelist and radio script writer. He also created the Australian TV series Riptide.Noonan served with the Second Australian Imperial Force in New Guinea during World War II. He moved to England in 1957 but returned frequently to Australia and returned there to live in Brisbane in 1979.Noonan was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 1998 Australia Day Honours for "service to the arts as an author of numerous novels, works of non-fiction, television scripts and plays".The beach, his favourite place, inspired most of his books. He spent the last years of his life living in Queensland, Australia. IN 1993 he married Jan Pearce (d. 2010).