AustLit

'Nationalism was at the heart of Lloyd O'Neil's publishing, and he was a leading figure in the development of Australian publishing in the 1960s and 1970s. Born on 17 July 1928 in Melbourne, O'Neil was the son of a talented musician mother and a left-wing, former wool-classer father. When he was sixteen the family moved to Sydney and Lloyd began as a junior in Angus & Robertson's famous Castlereagh Street bookshop. He spent six years there, and had become a buyer and head of the art books department before 'going bush' in 1952 to travel round Australia as a casual labourer. On his return he became a country representative for the British publisher Cassell, spending ten months on the road in each of the next three years.' (Introduction 38)