Ronald Conway

Who was Ronald Conway?

Ronald Conway was an Australian therapist and author, best known for his sociological works of the 1970s and 1980s, including The Great Australian Stupor, which sold exceptionally well, and The Land of the Long Weekend. Among other books by him were The End of Stupor?, Being Male, The Rage for Utopia and a memoir, Conway's Way.

Conway started off in life working in a book store and progressing to electrical fitting in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War. A native of Melbourne, Conway was employed as a psychologist by St Vincent's Hospital in that city from 1961 until his retirement. He also maintained a busy private practice at his home in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn specialising in male difficulties and personal issues.

Many of Conway's articles appeared in The Age, The Australian, Quadrant, and the now defunct National Times. He had a long-standing association with the National Civic Council, led by right-wing Catholic activist B. A. Santamaria; at times Santamaria published Conway in the NCC's flagship journal, News Weekly. This association ended when an impassioned censure by Conway of the NCC, particularly concerning the issues of contraception, homosexuality and the parameters of papal infalibility, led to a lasting estrangement between the two men. Conway also regretted the 1980s' split in the NCC that saw industrial elements of the organisation ejected. He believed Santamaria to have been the guiding force behind the split.