Staff at the State Library were very saddened to hear of the recent passing of note historian Rob Linn. Held in high regard amongst the South Australian and Australian oral history community, he contributed around 500 oral histories, and published work to the State Library’s collection.
Over the years Rob recorded many oral history interviews for the National Library of Australia’s Eminent Australians program including interviews with Robert Hannaford (OH 812), Maggie Beer (OH 969), Hossein and Angela Valamanesh (OH 852), Bruno Krumins (OH 731), and Kym Bonython (OH 711).
He undertook many large scale oral history projects for South Australian communities, industries and businesses including the National Wine Centre Oral History Project, ‘Treading out the vintage‘ (OH 692), The Australian Rural History Project (OH 456), and Sola Optical History Project (OH 619).
Rob’s oral histories were always well researched, and his interviewing style was warm and friendly. He always managed to gently guide the interviewee through the interview giving them the space they needed to share their story.
Amongst his many published books are:
- One piece of leather : R.M. Williams : the man and his company
- Prince Alfred College : 150 years
- The river flows : a history of Mannum on the River Murray
- Sketching with Stuart : John McDouall Stuart's expedition of 1861-62 seen through the sketches of Stephen King.
Described as a kind gentle man with a great passion for history, he will be deeply missed. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
Header photo by: Dan LeFebvre on Unsplash.