New Zealand-born author Ruth Park died at the age of 93 yesterday. Park leaves behind a body of work that endeared her to Australians such as the novel The Harp in the South and the children series The Muddle-Headed Wombat.

Park was born in New Zealand, but moved to Australia in 1942 after working at the Auckland Star. In Australia, she married D'Arcy Niland, author of The Shiralee. Ruth and D'Arcy have five children.

Four years since her move to Australia, Ruth published The Harp in the South, chronicling the Irish slum life in Surry Hills, a suburb in Sydney where she and D'Arcy lived. The Harp in the South won the Best Novel award from the Sydney Morning Herald in 1946. It was adapted for Australian television in 1986.

Ruth continued her narrative of the Depression era with a follow up Poor Man's Orange in 1949. Like its predecessor, Park's second novel was adapted for Australian television in 1987. Parks continued with her literary success, winning the Miles Franklin Award in 1977 for Swords and Crowns and Kings.

But perhaps Ruth Park's most beloved creation is the children series The Muddle-Headed Wombat. Originally a radio serial, it aired from 1951 until 1970, when the Australian Braodcasting Commission decided to cancel its Children Hour. Due to the popularity of the series, Park wrote her The Muddle-Headed Wombat stories, the last of which was The Muddle-Headed Wombat Stays at Home published in 1982.