Garry Wotherspoon, a former academic at the University of Sydney and a former NSW History Fellow, is a leading historian of many aspects of Sydney life. His books include Sydney’s Transport: Studies in Urban History; Being Different: Nine Gay Men Remember; and City of the Plain: History of a Gay Sub-culture. His The Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts: A History was published in 2013 to commemorate its 180th anniversary, and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s History Awards. He was awarded Australia’s Centenary of Federation medal for his work as an academic, researcher, and human rights activist.