Testimonials

Peter Wilmoth and I first met in the press box at Kardinia Park almost 40 years ago. I was the VFL footy writer for the Geelong Advertiser aspiring to move “up the road” to report for one of the metropolitan dailies so I made a point of reading Peter’s report in The Age on the Monday following the match. It was great stuff and I continued to look for anything carrying his byline for many years. He moved on to write about much more than footy — television, music, theatre, food, people and so on. He branched out to magazines and books always engaging the reader with a distinctive style.

More recently, he wrote about me! It was for a book about Geelong and a range of people who hail from the city by the bay. My dealings with Peter throughout the project were enjoyable and thoroughly professional and his piece about me was accurate, insightful and clearly on brief. I can’t speak for the others but I believe they would support that view. The finished product is an outstanding volume which is a testament to Peter’s interviewing and writing skills and his ability to manage the project overall.

After a lifetime in medicine, I wanted to put my story about my working life as a doctor onto the page for my family and friends. The team at Narrative Publishing helped me do this, from the first sit-down interview to the launch in April 2016 in front of many friends and family, who all received a copy at the function.

Working with the team was a rewarding and enjoyable experience and if you are looking to put your story onto the page I can highly recommend Narrative Publishing.

Hardie Grant Media recently worked with Peter Wilmoth on a major project and I am happy to commend his professionalism from beginning to end of the work.

Peter brings a genuine commitment to quality to the process. He cares about the result personally and is dedicated to both meeting deadlines and delivering compelling content. This requires detailed research and the ability to connect with people while researching and interviewing – these are not common attributes in writers, and are highly sought-after.

Peter is also notable for his ability to work with internal staff at the publisher’s end. He can re-work where necessary to adjust to a brief, he is flexible yet holds to a point of view when it is important to do so. Getting content right is a delicate skill, requiring collaboration, compromise and leadership in equal measure – Peter has exemplary abilities to get the job perfected and maintain good relationships with all stake-holders.

It’s for these reasons we will certainly use Peter again on future projects.

Peter Wilmoth co-wrote my autobiography ‘Living Large: The World of Harold Mitchell’, which was published in 2009 by Melbourne University Publishing.

At our first meeting organized by publisher Louise Adler I knew quickly Peter had the capacity to tackle the task of helping me put my life story in a book, and I was proven correct in that assessment.

Over a year Peter and I met on many occasions to prepare the book, from the interviews to the editing. Peter asked me questions on many topics about my life, career and thoughts on business, family, philanthropy and the world.

Working with Peter was a delight. It was both productive and enjoyable. His professionalism showed in the acuteness and empathy of his questions, his ability to draw good material out of his subject and his research and writing skills. He was able to successfully give shape to the many elements of my life story.

During the process I gained a good understanding up close as to why Peter is regarded as one of Australia’s top features writers with a strong focus on people and telling their stories.

Peter Wilmoth gave a presentation to my non-fiction writing students at RMIT in 2013 which was a highlight of the course.

Peter’s depth of experience and ability to capture the attention of the students was much remarked on, and appreciated.

His first hand involvement with a broad range of journalism – in particular profiles – allowed him to lay out the actual terrain of daily and weekly writing assignments.

What was particularly remarkable about his presentation was the engaging way he explored the dynamics of both the writing craft and the challenges of publishing.

As an author of numerous books as well as extensive journalism, he has at his command the mechanisms of media, and was able to convey this to the students.

I can highly recommend his capacity in this area, and vouch for his expertise and particular communication skills.

Peter Wilmoth is a regular Feature Writing guest lecturer in the School of Media, Film & Journalism at Monash University. His talks cover highlights of his extensive career as a newspaper and magazine feature writer and are rich in take-home anecdotes, techniques and tips. Student questions and interaction at the end of his talks and their enthusiastic and positive written appraisals are testament to the effectiveness of Peter’s contribution to the course.