Vale Peter ‘Pete’ Steedman – Lot’s Wife Editor 1965-66
December 7, 1943 to July 10, 2024
Peter ‘Pete’ Steedman passed away a month ago, aged 80. Mr. Steedman wrote for Lot’s Wife as well as its predecessor Chaos, before editing Lot’s Wife between 1965 alongside Phillip Frazer and 1966. His work on Lot’s Wife in this time, is credited with not only revolutionising Lot’s Wife but “under his leadership between 1965-66, Lot’s Wife was rescued from mediocrity and became the number one student newspaper in the country…” which was quite a challenge, by his own admission, “I can only compare it with the other top three papers – Sydney [Honi Soit], Melbourne [Farrago], and N.S.W. [Tharunka] – the other universities compare about equally or a bit below but with the three major papers considering their expenditure on a fortnightly basis, we’re working on about a fifth of their budget.”
Steedman’s term as editor came at a time of radical social change at Monash, most notably conscription and more broadly the Vietnam War, and his work on the paper reflected the concerns of with an issue dedicated to ‘The Monash View of Conscription’ published in July 1965, the second edition published under his and Frazer’s editorship; and a joint-publication with Farrago focussed largely on the same issue. And the success of Lot’s Wife comes down to seeking out perspectives on issues, stating that he “never censored anybody… Everybody gotta go.” and that ethos remains true to this day.
The best tribute to Peter and Phillip’s editorship, however, can be taken from the words of their peers in letters to the editors. For instance in a September 1965 issue, one student wrote “Lot’s Wife is the most original and exciting student newspaper I have ever seen. Congratulations to you and your co-editor.” Another letter reads “you’ve been congratulated on the finest student newspaper in Australia, and it probably is. The appearance is unusually professional, the content intelligent, critical, and provocative.” His influence continued beyond his term, as a letter a year later declared the “layout follows naturally in the Steedman tradition, it is more ordered in approach and content.”
Beyond Lot’s Wife, Peter continued to grace the world with his immense talents, editing for Melbourne University’s Farrago and numerous other publications including The Age. He served in Parliament between 1983 and 1984, representing the Division of Casey, where he was – to use the words of his colleague, founding editor of Lot’s Wife, Damien Broderick – “giving the Liberals hell in federal parliament…”. Following his time in Parliament, Steedman served as Executive Director of Ausmusic from 1988 to 1996, and returned to Lot’s Wife in 1987, 2007, and 2016 for interviews, as “the greatest keeper of Lot’s Wife stories.”
Perhaps the greatest tribute that can be paid to Pete Steedman, is his introduction before a 2007 interview: “He wasn’t afraid of the powers that be and was one of the best practitioners of offset tabloid newspapers in the country.”
