Andy Griffiths

“Allow yourself to play and fail now and again, because the fails are stepping stones to future success.”

Books and reading have been part of Andy Griffiths’ life for decades. But when he joined Yarra in Year 7 in 1974, books initially got him into some strife. 

“My name was always top of the list of fines for people who didn’t return their library books on time. I’d form an intense relationship with a book – they’d become part of me and I never wanted to return them because it was like getting rid of a friend. I wanted them for a little longer!” says Andy.

In the year he joined Yarra, Andy began writing a magazine for friends called Popcorn. Filled with jokes, cartoons and stories, he sold it for 3 cents a copy. He was also part of the Yarra magazine committee.

Friendships from his days at Yarra have endured and Andy fondly remembers the bus rides to school with friends.

“I’d travel with my friend, Danny Pickett and our friend, Jeremy. There was a whole culture on that bus – every year you moved a little further towards the back until you could control the back seats.”

“We lived in Vermont in a developing housing area full of orchards and next to Dandenong Creek and on a typical weekend, Danny and I would get on the purple Dragster and off we’d ride. We’d play down at the creek and climb trees. There was wonderful freedom and I think I draw on that sense of freedom in my books.”

After leaving Yarra, Andy became an English teacher and when he met students who didn’t share his passion for books and reading, he began writing funny stories to capture his students’ imagination.

Eventually he began self-publishing his story collections, until his first book, Just Tricking! was commercially published in 1997. Then came the Treehouse books that have been read and enjoyed by children and families across the world.

“I didn’t have a treehouse but my cousin had an oak tree in his backyard and he had a treehouse that was just a single platform – there was no shark tank or bowling alley! We’d play up there all afternoon. It was a world away from the ground and adults and I loved it,” he says.

“When I began writing, I had the express intention not to send any messages to my readers but I just wanted to make the process of reading a book as enjoyable and involving as possible.”

More than 40 years after leaving Yarra, Andy still recalls the school motto and it still resonates for him.

“For me it’s about looking to the future with active hope that you can make a difference and make the future better.

From his original podcast chat with us:

“Humour thrived at this School in the ‘70s and I still channel that. You have to find your own way of doing things. Not everyone will rush to applaud you at first – they certainly didn’t for me. But whatever you choose to do in your life, believe in it”

Our Yarra Old Grammarians thrive in all walks of life; some in the public eye and others with more private endeavours. Andy Griffiths (YOG 1979) is known to most young Australians and their parents, as the award-winning author behind the Treehouse series.

Andy has successfully published in more than thirty countries, with his books making it onto the New York Times bestsellers lists and winning more than seventy Australian Children’s Choice Awards. The creativity he is renowned for was fostered at Yarra. Andy reflects on his School days saying “Yarra was a great musical School and creative arts were promoted. We’d have big concerts in the quadrangles at lunchtime”.

Andy went on to create a fake band with friends and wrote lyrics based on life at Yarra to make his friends laugh. He also wrote for the School magazine and was part of the bushwalking club that taught him key skills he still relies on today.

“Some walks were led entirely by students and were overnight and so involved planning and endurance. That was fantastic when I started writing books because books are all about endurance, planning and hanging in there while you get the job done”.

It takes a year for each book to be written, illustrated and published. During that process, the desire to make children laugh inspires Andy. He’s also a firm believer in following your instincts.

In his life after Yarra, Andy demonstrates how Yarra gives students the confidence to achieve in whatever their passion is.