From a household name in the 1970s, to an introvert living in the Byron hinterland for the past two decades, Peter Powditch is an artist and educator who came to success at the moment when Australia was defining its identity. He died on Saturday evening, 13 February, aged 79.
His death did not come as a surprise. An asthmatic who loved smoking, Powditch had suffered chronic emphysema for most of his adult life.
