Michael Leahy

Background

Leahy was born in Toowoomba, Queensland, the fourth of nine children of Irish migrants Daniel Leahy, a railway guard, and his wife Ellen, née Stone.

Career

He photographed, filmed and published many of his explorations widely. After an education at the Christian Brothers" College in Toowoomba, Leahy initially worked as a railway clerk before leaving to become a freelance timber cutter. He abandoned this in 1926 upon hearing about the Edie Creek gold strike in New Guinea.

After suffering from an almost fatal bout of malaria upon trying to reach the gold fields, Leahy instead took a construction and labour management job.

Explorer

Mick Leahy with Mick Dwyer walked across New Guinea in 1930 and disproved the prevailing opinion that the interior of the island was unpopulated. He was one of the first Europeans to reach and climb the country"s second tallest mountain – Mount Giluwe (1934).

However, Jack Hides had also laid claim to be the first to discover Mount Giluwe, so Leahy went to England in 1935 and forced the Royal Geographical Society to set up a hearing into the two opposing claims. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a flight lieutenant and was assigned to the United States chief engineer to build an airstrip in Telefomin.

The 1983 award-winning documentary film "First Contact" is about the exploration of the Wahgi Valley and Mount Hagen in Papua New Guinea based on much of Leahy"s footage.

He died at Zenag in Morobe Province, in 1979.

Achievements

• The following year Leahy was awarded the Murchison Award by the Society and published his discoveries in their journal. Foreign his services during the war Leahy was awarded the United States Medal of Freedom with bronze palm in 1948, appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1952 and made an honorary member of the Explorers Club in 1959.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Porn Nation Student Edition: The Naked Truth by Michael Leahy (2008-05-01)
  • Against Liberation: Putting Animals in Perspective by Michael P. T. Leahy (1993-11-11)
  • Hard Lessons: Senior Year at Beverly Hills High School by Michael P. T. Leahy (1988-09-01)
  • Porn Nation: Conquering America's #1 Addiction by Michael Leahy (2008-05-01)
  • Covenant of Liberty: The Ideological Origins of the Tea Party Movement by Michael Patrick Leahy (2012-03-20)
  • Freddie the Ballynahinch Fox: A Tale for Our Times by Michael Leahy (1997-08-06)
  • When Nothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan's Last Comeback by Michael Leahy (2006-08-01)
  • Porn @ Work: Exposing the Office's #1 Addiction by Michael Leahy (2009-04-01)
  • The Last Innocents LP: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers by Michael Leahy (2016-05-24)