Bradley Trevor Greive

Bradley Trevor Greive
Greive posing with a jaguar cub
Born Bradley Trevor Greive
(1970-02-22) 22 February 1970
Hobart, Tasmania
Nationality Australian
Occupation Author, artist, naturalist, writer, actor, adventure sportsman, radio and television personality
Years active 1993–present
Spouse(s) Amy Greive [1]
Website http://www.btgstudios.com
Signature

Bradley Trevor Greive AM (born 22 February 1970) is an Australian author. He has written 24 books which have been translated into 27 different languages, and have been sold in 115 different countries, several of which have appeared in the New York Times bestseller list. Greive's work has won multiple awards worldwide and has sold more than 25 million copies.[2] He lives mostly in Tasmania, Alaska and California.[1]

Early life and career

Greive served as a paratrooper until 1993.

Greive was born in Hobart, Tasmania to Dr Trevor Colin Greive and Nita Fay Greive, and spent his childhood living with his parents and sisters in numerous countries across Europe and Asia. He returned to Australia in 1979 to finish his schooling at Tweed Valley College in Murwillumbah, where he was awarded Dux in 1988.[3]

Greive joined the Australian Army after leaving high school and underwent training at the Royal Military College Duntroon in Canberra.[1] Whilst an undergraduate at RMC Duntroon, Greive undertook a military exchange with the Royal Thai Military Academy,[4][5] during which he toured Thai/Cambodian border military installations and refugee camps. Upon graduation as a commissioned officer (Lieutenant) Greive was posted to the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment (Para), and assumed command of 1st Platoon, Alpha Company – a paratroop combat rifle platoon. Greive's specialist combat qualifications include: Airborne Operations, Air Mobile Operations, Survival, Mine Warfare & Anti Handling Devices (Instructor), Heavy Weapons – Direct Fire Weapons, Anti-Armour, Heavy Machine Guns (Instructor).[6] He continued to serve in this capacity until 1993, when he left the military due to a tropical respiratory infection that led to asthma.[7]

Greive subsequently worked across several creative fields (including media such as television, radio and published cartoons)[5][8] before his debut as a successful author in 2000, which led to the inception of BTG Studios, followed by The Lost Bear Company and the uptake of several notable creative projects, which he continues to work on to the present.[9]

Creative career

Publishing

See also: list of books published by BTG

Greive rose to prominence as an author in 2000 with the release of his hugely successful The Blue Day Book, a collection of amusing animal photos and inspirational text designed to "lift the spirits of anyone who has got the blues."[10] Since then he has published in excess of 20 books and has won numerous awards for his work, including the ABA Book of the Year Award (2000), the APA Best Designed Children's Non-fiction Book Award (2003) and numerous #1 placings in bestseller lists across the world. Greive's books have been published on 6 continents and has sold in excess of 25 million copies to date.[2] In late 2013, Greive purchased the English language gift-book rights to Bertrand Russell's seminal essay, 'In Praise of Idleness'.[11]

Television and radio

In 1996 Greive became a creative consultant and writer for Godfrey Bigot's weekly political sketches on Channel 7's Today Tonight, and went on to pursue a similar role in 1997 with MTV Australia.[5][12] In 1998, Greive collaborated with Kapow Pictures to write and direct an animated short for Nickelodeon called Agent Green,[13] and a short film called Show & Tell which won the Comgraph Animation Gold Award, the Tellrude Film Festival Best Short Film Award, the Danish International 3D Award, and was nominated for an AFI Award for Best Short Animation.[14][15][16]

In 2007 he wrote, produced and hosted The World According to Bradley Trevor Greive on Tasmania's community radio station Star FM .

Greive has long enjoyed a close relationship with ABC Radio and Television, appearing on numerous programs over the past decade, including Stateline,[17] ABC National News, ABC Radio National Night Club,[18] and an appearance on Creature Features with his pet rabbit, Biff.[19]

On 21 April 2007, Greive read his poem "Welcome to the East Coast (After the Fire)", during the live broadcast from the ABC ‘Back to St Helens’ concert to acknowledge the heroic efforts of the East Coast community who rallied together during the devastating forest fires of December 2006.[20]

Over December 2009 and January 2010, BTG presented ABC Radio National Evenings (hosted by Christopher Lawrence) with his ‘E-Mail From America’ [21] – a weekly series of eclectic and humorous reports from Florida, USA. The title of BTG's program was a tongue in cheek homage to the late Alistair Cooke's Letter From America, "a weekly 15-minute radio series on BBC Radio 4, previously called the Home Service, which ran for 2,869 shows from 24 March 1946, to 20 February 2004, making it the longest-running speech radio program in history. The program was also broadcast for many years on the BBC World Service."

BTG and Christopher Lawrence teamed up again, this time on ABC Classic FM, over Monday, 5 April 2010 to co-host "The Life Changers", the finale of First Time Classics, a publicly voted classical music showcase, produced by Marian Arnold.[22][23]

In 2013 and 2014 BTG made five appearances as the resident wildlife expert on the E! Network's late-night comedy talk-show Chelsea Lately.[24][25] In 2014 Greive also appeared as the resident wildlife expert on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS.[26]

Stage

In 2007 Greive produced two sell-out performances of An Intimate Evening with John Cleese[27] – starring John Cleese and featuring Richard Morecroft, one with Paul Chesher and 4D Events.

On 4 January 2013, Greive joined celebrated primatologist Dame Jane Goodall, along with fellow wildlife conservationist and American screen legend Betty White, on stage at the Warner Grand Theater, in San Pedro, California, to raise money for the Jane Goodall Institute.[28]

In 2016 Greive rewrote Ogden Nash’s humorous verse for The Carnival of the Animals (Le carnaval des animaux) for an all-Australian themed production of Camille Saint-Saens’s classic work performed by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, entitled The (Australian) Carnival of the Animals.[29][30]

Cartoons

Shortly after retiring from his career as a paratrooper in 1993, Greive worked in several entry-level positions in the advertising, modelling and service industries which he has described as "creatively enlightening".[31] In 1994 Greive went on to become the youngest feature cartoonist at the Sydney Morning Herald,[6][13] and launched a series of cartoons known as Fate which featured in the Manly Art Gallery and Museum Newsletter. Greive continued to explore his graphical creativity in 1995 with the launch of the Bradley Trevor Greive Cartoon Series in the Sydney Morning Herald. Greive's work was later exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney in 1997. In 2011 Greive launched ‘The Lost Bear’, a single panel cartoon series on Go Comics, the world's most popular online comic site. Go Comics currently generates over 70,000,000 page views per month and belongs to Universal Uclick, the world's largest independent syndicate.[32][33]

Walt Disney Imagineering

Since 2010 BTG has twice been the Executive Creative Consultant In Residence for Walt Disney Imagineering's elite Blue Sky creative think-tank. He has also returned to WDI to lecture on ‘The Nature of Creativity’ on two occasions, and continues to have close professional ties with a number of key creative divisions within the world's largest media conglomerate.[34][35]

International representation

In late 2013 Greive signed with the United Talent Agency, who now represent him for film, stage, radio, lectures and television work. As an author, and for all his publishing endeavours BTG continues to be represented by Al Zuckerman, the founder of Writers House, New York.[36][37][38][39]

Wildlife conservation and other activities

Greive has supported numerous conservation, arts and literacy initiatives and projects around the world, and presently holds the following offices: Founding Governor – The Taronga Foundation,[40] Chairman – The Taronga Foundation Poetry Prize,[41] Life Benefactor – Durrell Wildlife Conservational Trust (UK),[42] Patron – Painted Dog Conservation Inc (Africa),[42] International Conservation Ambassador – Fort Worth Zoo (USA),[42] Council Member of the Australian Youth Orchestra,[43] Board Member – Australia Poetry Centre, Ambassador – Dymocks Literacy Foundation.

In 2002 Greive teamed up with famed Japanese wildlife photographer, Mitsuaki Iwago, to produce a book on biodiversity entitled Priceless – The Vanishing Beauty of a Fragile Planet. BTG donated all his author royalties to the Taronga Foundation, an Australasian wildlife conservation charity. The book has inspired numerous people to take positive action in regards to wildlife conservation, including British filmmaker, Steve Piper, who went on to make an acclaimed documentary about critically endangered Scottish Wildcats.[44][45]

In 2004 Greive qualified for the Russian space program by completing testing and basic training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Moscow,[46] and in 2006 won the French Polynesian Ha'a'piti Rock lifting championships.[1][5][47] [48][1]

On 24 October 2013 BTG attended the official opening of the Tasmanian Devil exhibit at San Diego Zoo in his capacity as both a Tasmanian representative and also as Governor of Taronga Western Plains Zoo; the Taronga Conservation Society Australia facility that provided the Tasmanian Devils for this international conservation education partnership.[49][50]

National honors

In 2014 Greive was awarded the Order of Australia for his significant service to literature and wildlife conservation.[51]

Personal life

Despite his many media appearances, Greive is known to be a very private person; a "self-described cave bear by nature, who equates publicity to “being stoned to death with toffee apples”"[1] He currently lives on a remote farm on the East Coast of Tasmania, Australia and has never allowed media onto his property.[52]

In 2011, BTG temporarily relocated to Costa Rica to work on a new book entitled The Obsequious Parrot.

Since 2010, Greive has been in a romantic relationship with American Architect, Amy Melin.[6] They were married in June, 2015.[1]

In 2013, BTG temporarily relocated to Alaska to research an as yet untitled book about brown bears and Tlingit culture.[1][5]

Greive's hobbies and interest include: sky-diving, desert racing, scuba diving, wildlife, adventure travel, art, cooking, science, and reading. Greive has said his favorite authors include Joseph Heller, Douglas Adams, and Gerald Durrell, and his favorite painter is Philip Guston. Other historical figures BTG admires include: Richard Feynman, Jacques Cousteau, Howard Carter, Robert Goddard, Marie Curie, Yuri Gagarin, Erwin Rommel, David Lynch and David Sterling. Greive has been quoted as saying his favorite fictional character is "The lace-making, latently heroic Beaver from Lewis Carroll's Hunting Of The Snark."[53]

Published works

  • The Blue Day Book (2000)
  • The Meaning of Life (2001)
  • Dear Mom (2001)
  • Looking for Mr Right (2001)
  • Priceless: the Vanishing Beauty of a Fragile Planet (2002)
  • The Incredible Truth About Mothers (2003)
  • Tomorrow (2003)
  • The Book for People Who Do Too Much (2004)
  • Friends To The End (2004)
  • Dear Dad (2005)
  • The Simple Truth about Love (2005)
  • The Blue Day Book for Kids (2005)
  • A Teaspoon of Courage (2006)
  • Dieting Causes Brain Damage (2006)
  • Friends To The End for Kids (2006)
  • Every Day is Christmas (2007)
  • A Teaspoon of Courage for Kids (2007)
  • Thank You for Being You (2008)
  • I'm Sorry... My Bad! (2008)
  • Why Dogs Are Better Than Cats (2009)
  • Curses and Blessings for All Occasions (2012)
  • Penguin Bloom (2016)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Totaro, Paola (21 November 2015). "Blue Day Book author Bradley Trevor Greive embraces Bertrand Russell". The Australian. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Article, The Examiner". Examiner.com.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  3. ↑ "Dux". Btgstudios.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  4. ↑ "Interview Issue #1 page 122". Renegadecollective.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "BTG Studios". Btgstudios.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  6. 1 2 3 "BTG Studios". Btgstudios.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  7. ↑ "Snapshot Bradley Greive, BTG Studios". Herald Sun. Melbourne, Australia. 22 September 2005. p. 70.
  8. ↑ "(Interview, Issue #1, Page 122)". Renegadecollective.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  9. ↑ http://www.pressreader.com/australia/manly-daily/20160416/281844347803106
  10. ↑ "The Blue Day Book: Bradley Trevor Greive: 9780740704819: Amazon.com: Books". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  11. ↑ "BTG Who Is He". Btgstudios.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  12. ↑ "AWN". Awn.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  13. 1 2 "Painted Dog Studios Press Pack" (PDF). Painteddogconservation.iinet.net.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  14. ↑ "Kapow Pictures". Kapowpictures.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  15. ↑ "Vimeo". Vimeo.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  16. ↑ "Kapow Picture Shorts". Kapowpictures.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  17. ↑ "ABC Stateline". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  18. ↑ "ABC Night Club". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  19. ↑ "ABC Creature Features". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  20. ↑ "ABC Back to St Helens Concert". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  21. ↑ "ABC E-Mail from America". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  22. ↑ "Classic FM". Blogs.crikey.com.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  23. ↑ "First Time Classics". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  24. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1402259/
  25. ↑ Archived 11 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  26. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3790178/
  27. ↑ "The Zoological Parks Board of NSW Annual Report 2006" (PDF). Taronga.org.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  28. ↑ http://alexandriajezina.blogspot.com/2013/01/san-pedro-welcomes-jane-goodall.html
  29. ↑ http://www.cutcommonmag.com/live-review-the-australian-carnival-of-the-animals/
  30. ↑ http://www.themercury.com.au/entertainment/blue-day-author-bradley-trevor-greive-lends-star-support-to-tso/news-story/ac90a4a5b49a502fecfc8e0491149ddc
  31. ↑ "DAAO". Daao.org.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  32. ↑ "Go Comics – The Lost Bear". Gocomics.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  33. ↑ "Universal Uclick – Lost Bear". Universaluclick.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  34. ↑ "Examiner Article". Examiner.com.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  35. ↑ "Interview with Renegade". Renegadecollective.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  36. ↑ "United Talent". Unitedtalent.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  37. ↑ "Writers House".
  38. ↑ "Publishers Marketplace". Publishersmarketplace.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  39. ↑ "BTG Studios". Btgstudios.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  40. ↑ "Taronga Foundation Annual Report 2007" (PDF). Taronga.org.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  41. ↑ "Taronga Foundation non profit youth poetry prize" (PDF). Taronga.org. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  42. 1 2 3 "BTG Studios – Philanthropy". Btgstudios.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  43. ↑ "AYO Committees". Ayo.com.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  44. ↑ "Vanishing Beauty of a Fragile Planet". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  45. ↑ "Coffee Films". Coffeefilms.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  46. ↑ http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/trending/bradley-trevor-greive-reaches-for-the-stars
  47. ↑ (From ‘Dieting Causes Brain Damage: How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind’. Page 124). Books.google.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  48. ↑ "Painted Dog" (PDF). Painteddogconservation.iinet.net.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  49. ↑ "Blog spot". Alexandriajezina.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  50. ↑ "Examiner Article". Examiner.com.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  51. ↑ https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/qb/qb2014/Media%20Notes%20-%20AM%20(A-L).pdf
  52. ↑ "ABC Interview". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  53. ↑ "BTG Studios FAQ". Btgstudios.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.

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