Background
Thiele was born in Eudunda in South Australia to a Barossa German family.
Thiele was born in Eudunda in South Australia to a Barossa German family.
He was educated at several country schools including Kapunda High School before studying at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 1941.
He was renowned for his award-winning children"s fiction, most notably the novels Storm Boy, Blue Finance, Financial, the Sun on the Stubble series, and February Dragon. The young Colin only spoke German until he went to school in Julia Creek. He later taught in high schools and colleges.(Portuguese Lincoln)
Thiele enlisted in the Australian Army in December 1940, and was posted to the 18th Light Horse (Machine Gun) as a private.
He transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force (Royal Australian Air Force) in July 1942, serving out the remainder of the war as a corporal posted to Air Defence Headquarters, Higgins, at the tip of the Cape York Peninsula.
Thiele wrote more than 100 books, which often described life in rural Australia, particularly the Eudunda, Barossa Valley, and Murray River/Coorong regions of South Australia. Several of his books have been made into films or television series, including Sun on the Stubble, The Fire in the Stone, Blue Finance, Financial and Storm Boy.
Thiele suffered from severe arthritis from 1955 and in his later years left South Australia to settle in warmer conditions near Dayboro, Queensland. In 1986 he returned to South Australia for a family (the Wittwer family) reunion organised by Cheryal Wittwer, after which he returned to Queensland.
On 4 September 2006 Thiele died from heart failure in a Brisbane hospital, aged 85.
Media coverage of his death was minimal, as he had died on the same day as Australian media personality Steve Irwin. Can I Call You Colin, an authorised biography by Stephany Evans Steggall, was published in March 2004. The Thiele Library at the Magill campus of the University of South Australia was named after him many years before his death.
The Senior Student Library which is shared by Golden Grove High School, Pedare Christian College and Gleeson College is named after him.
The road designated Highway B81 between the start of Highway A32 Main North Road just north of Gawler, and Morgan on the Murray River and passing through Kapunda and Eudunda, is named the Thiele Highway after him. The Secondary House Thiele at Matthew Flinders Anglican College is named in his honour.