ONCE branded an undesirable citizen by the Australian government because of his political views, Warrnambool man Allan Scarfe made a big contribution as an author and teacher.
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Mr Scarfe, who died in October at the age of 85, had a passion for social justice and a great curiosity about the world.
His socialist beliefs when a member of Melbourne University’s Labor Club during his idealistic student days earnt him the undesirable citizen tag from the Menzies government.
But Mr Scarfe did not let that tag stop him and he translated his enthusiasm for social justice into campaigning throughout his life for a better deal for the poor and disadvantaged, either through his own work or by writing about others who had also done so.
Most of the books he co-wrote with his wife Wendy or in his own right had a social justice theme and ranged from a biography of Indian political leader Jayaprakash Narayan, to Greek migrants’ recollections of the resistance to fascism and Australian early Labor leader Percy Brookfield.
He and Wendy’s prodigious output also included books on social issues for schools such as “The Black Australians” about Aboriginal Australians and “Victims or Bludgers?” about poverty in Australia.
Mr Scarfe also wrote two novels, A Corpse in Calcutta (2000), a fast paced comedy thriller and the Dissident Guru (2004), an anti-globalisation protest thriller, both of which drew upon his experiences in India.
A collection of short stories, The Scourge of Termite-ists, which he published in 2009, drew upon his experiences throughout his life.
Wendy Scarfe said Allan was a “quintessential arts student” when she met him in the 1950s at Melbourne University where she was also studying for an arts degree.
“He was dressed in baggy corduroy trousers, a lime green sleeveless pullover and a tweed jacket, smoking a pipe and deeply engaged in conversation in the university cafe about some erudite text,” she said.
Mr Scarfe taught primary school as a teenager in northern Victoria before going to university.
He already wrote regularly in his youth, producing short stories and poetry.
After the pair married in 1955, Mr Scarfe taught English and History in Melbourne high schools as well as doing English extension classes for prisoners at Pentridge prison.
But the pair had caught the bug at Melbourne University for teaching in undeveloped countries from the founders of Australian Volunteers Abroad and applied to teach in Indonesia.
However the federal government’s classification of the pair as “undesirable Australian citizens” put the skids on their application and they went to England in disgust.
While in England teaching, they met a friend of Indian socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, widely known as JP, who encouraged them to visit India and meet the charismatic politician.
This they did and JP invited them to come to his ashram in the rural village of Sokhodeora in India’s poorest state, Bihar. There the two taught more engaging ways of teaching to the ashram school’s teachers, taking education beyond learning by rote.
They were there for about six months before they returned to Australia in 1958. They resumed teaching in Melbourne before JP invited them back to establish an experimental rural school at the ashram at Sokhodeora.
The two worked at Sokhodeora for about two and half years, bringing in changes such as separating younger children into a kindergarten to provide more targeted education and introducing ways of learning that were more enjoyable for children.
They also had a night school built where adults could learn literacy. Two of their four children were adopted while they were in the village.
They returned penniless to Australia in 1963 and began their long stint teaching in Warrnambool in 1964, choosing the city because the education department offered low rent housing and Mr Scarfe had fond memories of the city from spending three years of schooling here.
He taught humanities, including English and History, at Warrnambool College until 1990 when a heart attack led him to retire.
Their settlement in Warrnambool was the start of their prolific careers as writers.
They wrote about their time at Sokhodeora in their first book “A Mouthful of Petals: The Story of an Indian Village,” published in 1967.
When famine hit Bihar in the late 1960s, JP headed the relief committee and asked Wendy Scarfe to tour the state and write a report.
Allan Scarfe put all the information his wife gathered into the book “Tiger on a Rein – A Report on the Bihar Famine” that helped aid organisations target their relief work
The Scarfes found JP an inspiring man and the two wrote his well-regarded biography, published in 1975. Some years after JP died in 1979, the two also published “Remembering Jayaprakash,” their personal recollections of the man.
La Trobe University social science and humanities honorary associate Thomas Webber said the Scarfes made a significant contribution to Australia-India relations.
Wendy Scarfe said her husband was very skilled at making facts come alive and did most of the writing for their joint works of non-fiction.
She said Allan was also an enthusiastic teacher, keen to present new ways to help students learn.
Wendy Scarfe said her husband was a loving and compassionate man and his strong values came through in his writing.