Elyne Mitchell (Chauvel ’30) was a renowned children’s author – best known for The Silver Brumby (HarperCollins 1958) and the subsequent series for which she was Highly Commended by the Children’s Book Council in 1959. In 1993, The Silver Brumby was made into a movie and was a pinnacle in a richly rewarding career.

Elyne was not only a successful children’s author who through her thrilling tales inspired generations of young people to enjoy reading, but she also wrote non-fiction and adult fiction as well. In total, she wrote 37 books, countless articles and poems. She was a wide ranging thinker and a hard worker who approached everything she did with infectious enthusiasm and commitment. Her lesser known ground breaking book Soil and Civilisation (Angus and Robertson 1946) highlighted the damage human civilisation has done and continues to do to the environment.

Married to Tom Mitchell in 1935, Elyne moved to the family cattle station Towing Hill in Victoria’s Upper Murray. She had four children, one of whom sadly died in a car accident
in 1972.

Not only was Elyne a writer and a passionate environmentalist, but also a champion skiier with the highlight of her Ski-racing career in March 1938 when she won the Canadian Downhill at Banff. Elynn continued Skiing well into her later years.

Elyne was awarded the Order of Australia medal for services to literature in 1991. After a long, creative and active life, Elyne died on March 4 2002, aged 89.

November 2015