David Bentley (journalist)

David Bentley is an Australian journalist and musician.[1][2]

Bentley is known for writing the 1969 hit "In a Broken Dream" for his band Python Lee Jackson, in which he was a keyboard player and singer.[1][2] "In a Broken Dream", featuring Rod Stewart, peaked at #3 on the UK singles chart.[1]

As a freelance journalist, Bentley has worked as a foreign correspondent, travel writer, food critic, columnist and feature writer.[1]

In 1995, Bentley was awarded the Gold Walkley for exposing a literary hoax for The Courier Mail, involving Miles Franklin Award winner Helen Demidenko, author of The Hand That Signed the Paper, who had falsely claimed Ukrainian ancestry.[3][4][5]

The controversy has since been widely discussed, with Bentley credited with uncovering one of Australia's most intriguing literary hoaxes.[6][7][8][9]

  1. ^ a b c d About David Bentley, David Bentley Music. Accessed 16 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b Carter, Ashley (16 September 2016) Always with a jazz bent, The Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  3. ^ (1 December 1995) Qld journalist wins Gold Walkley, The Canberra Times. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  4. ^ Hefner, Robert (21 August 1995) Top author's identity in doubt, The Canberra Times. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  5. ^ Darville, Helen (26 August 1995) I sincerely regret any distress, The Canberra Times. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  6. ^ Robson, Frank (27 September 2014) The greatest Australian scandals of the past 30 years: Helen Demidenko/Darville/Dale, The Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  7. ^ Nolan, Maggie; Dawson, Carrie (2004) Who's Who?: Hoaxes, Imposture and Identity Crises in Australian Literature, University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0702235237
  8. ^ Meyer, Therese-Marie (2006), Where Fiction Ends: Four Scandals of Literary Identity Construction, Konigshausen & Neumann. ISBN 3826031644
  9. ^ Mitchell, Chris (2016), Making Headline, Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0522870716