A Strine original

Australia has lost an eccentric lexicographer with the death of Alistair Morrison ('25). Though he saw himself primarily as a painter and designer, Alistair was better known as the scholarly Professor Afferbeck Lauder. The great-nephew of Scotch Principal Alexander Morrison, Alistair studied at the National Gallery of Victoria School and first came to prominence as a graphic and industrial designer. His first book of Strine, Let Stalk Strine (1965), was an instant bestseller. One of many hilarious examples was Spin-ear Mitch: Much alike, closely resembling one another, as in: "He's the Spin-ear Mitch of his old man". Alistair's painting and design are represented in the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of NSW, the Powerhouse Museum (Sydney) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London). Alistair had lived in Fremantle for 15 years, and died there aged 86.

Campbell McComas