James Wright (doctor)

Knight was born on 12 December 1927 in Brisbane, Australia. When he was 6 months old his family moved to Sydney. He was raised on Fox Valley Road in Wahroonga, a northern Sydney suburb. His father was a clergyman. He had a "very strict, very strict, disciplinarian upbringing. We used to get a hiding pretty regularly". His family were vegetarians. His mother lived to 100, and his father to 90 years of age.[1] He was educated at North Sydney Boys High School. [2]

Knight is still a vegetarian, does not smoke or drink alcohol and exercises daily. In 1955 Knight married Noreen Westlake.[1] He graduated from Sydney University.[3]

Knight made a fortune in the millions of dollars through property investments, mainly on the Queensland Gold Coast.[1] In the early 2000s Wright was swindled out of A$57 million by a friend, New Zealander Derek Turner.[4][5] "Turner had been his neighbour for 10 to 15 years and was a trusted acquaintance, Dr Knight said"[6] He also owned a motel and a funeral director's company for forty years, also a printing company.[1]

Knight has had surgery for throat cancer and in February 2017 had surgery for bowel cancer.[7]

Knight first practised medicine as a GP in Tottenham, a small town in the Central West, very close to the geographic centre of New South Wales.[8] While there he was also the local correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). His stories were sent to the ABC by morse code.[1]

He was the 'resident doctor' on The Midday Show, starting when it was The Mike Walsh Show, a period of twenty-five years. He also ran his own radio show for almost twenty years.[3]

In 1971 Knight and his wife established the charity 'Medi-Aid'. It grew from an idea in Knight's teenage years to a national foundation that provides aged care accommodation for more than 700 elderly people.[9] The foundation has several villages in Sydney, and one on the Gold Coast in Queensland.[1] Its prime aim is to provide housing for the older community across all socio-economic levels.

In 1998 Knight was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his media outreach and the work of the Foundation.[10] In 2003, he was one of the three finalists in the "Australian of the Year" Awards.[3] Knight was awarded as the 2017 New South Wales Senior Australian of the Year.[11]

• Dr Wright's family medical guide. James Wright Sydney: Golden Press, 1985. 566 p ISBN 0855581972
• Family medical care : a five-volume illustrated series covering all aspects of health care. James Wright, Signs, 2007. ISBN 9781876010966 (set)
  • "Parenting". ISBN 9781876010911 (v. 1)
  • "Parenting". ISBN 9781876010928 (v. 2)
  • "Major systems of the body and emergencies". ISBN 9781876010935 (v. 3)
  • "Marvels of the human frame".ISBN 9781876010942 (v. 4)
  • "Special organs and the skeletal structure". ISBN 9781876010959 (v. 5)
• Understanding tummy troubles : the recognition and treatment of peptic ulcers, and other common disorders of the stomach and intestinal system. James Wright, Golden Press, 1984. 72 p. : ill ISBN 0730200132
• So you're a teenager : vital facts for girls. James Wright, Signs Publishing Co., 2003, 192 p. : ill. ISBN 1876010665
• So you're a teenager : vital facts for boys. James Wright, Signs Publishing Co., 2001, 192 p. : col. ill. ISBN 1876010266, ISBN 1876010363
• Dr. Wright's fabulous fitness book. James Wright, Horwitz Grahame, c1987. 173 p. ISBN 0725520116
• Alternative medicine James Wright, Golden Press, 1982. 280 p. : ill ; ISBN 0855583789
• Women's problems. James Wright, Golden Press, 1981. 175 p. : ill. ISBN 0855587776
• Baby & childhood illnesses. James Wright, Golden Press, 1981. 278 p. : ill. ISBN 0855587938
• A medical guide to good health.James Wright, Medi-Aid Centre Foundation, 1978. 303 p. ISBN 0959528008
• Successful slimming, incorporating "The great Australian diet' Golden Press, 1981. 215 p. ISBN 0855587857

• Official website