An interview with Kym Bonython commissioned for the National Library of Australia's Eminent Australians Interviewing Program in conjunction with the State Library of South Australia's J. D. Somerville Oral History Collection. In this interview, Kym Bonython, scion of one of the first white settlers in South Australia, interweaves his personal stories with the State and International events which shaped his work experiences. His grandfather Langdon Bonython owned and edited The Advertiser from 1884-1923. Kymʼs father, John Lavington Bonython also worked in the newspaper, but as Kym noted, his father ʻreally devoted most of his life to civic affairsʼ as Lord Mayor and member of the Adelaide City Council. Kym Bonython recalls in fond detail his memories of his parents and grandparents, the houses where they lived, his schooldays and his motherʼs influence on his musical and artistic development. From an early age, Kym Bonython was an enthusiastic jazz fan who became a jazz promoter and brought many famous jazz bands to Adelaide. One of the greatest pleasures of his life was motorcycling and after World War II, he established the Rowley Park Speedway. On the outbreak of World War II, Kym Bonython enlisted immediately and began his training as a pilot at Mascot in the Empire Air Scheme. He reminisces about the air force staff he knew, his flights in Australia and the South Pacific, and being in hospital there during the bombing of Darwin. After the end of the War, Kym Bonython ran a Jersey cattle stud at Mount Pleasant for a while. At the same time, he was collecting modern Australian paintings by Drysdale, Nolan and Arthur Boyd. From the Jersey stud, Kym Bonython moved into speedway entrepreneurials, record shops, radio shows, and jazz concerts. Because he ran art galleries in Adelaide and Sydney, Kym Bonython knew most of Australiaʼs post World War II artists and he shares his memories with the interviewer.
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