At the age of nine, Gabrielle Carey fell in love with her favourite author. She wasn’t alone. Hundreds of thousands of other young readers also fell in love with Ivan Southall and many wrote him adoring fan mail. But Ivan Southall—warm and tender in his letters to children—is not, she finds, so loveable in real life. In fact, he is not the man that Gabrielle remembered at all. Southall, Ivan, 1921-2008. | Carey, Gabrielle, 1959- | Southall, Ivan, 1921-2008 -- Correspondence. | Southall, Ivan, 1921-2008 -- Criticism and interpretation. | Authors, Australian -- Biography. | Children's literature, Australian -- 20th century -- Authorship. | Authors, Australian -- Correspondence. | Children's literature, Australian -- 20th century. | Australian