The contribution of noted Australian writer Mr Bob Ellis to Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the city of Bathurst has been fondly remembered.

Mr Ellis, who died of liver failure aged 73 on the weekend, co-authored two plays with CSU academics - City of the Plains (2001), and A Local Man (2004) - which were then produced on stage to celebrate the history of Bathurst.

Adjunct history lecturer in the CSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences Dr Rob McLachlan, who co-authored City of the Plains with Mr Ellis, quoted the opening lines:

'When in times to come our tale is told,

The world will praise what we accomplished here.'

"Change a couple of words in those memorable lines he wrote for us and you have a fitting epitaph for Bob, a good friend and a wonderful story teller," said Dr McLachlan (pictured centre, with Bob Ellis left and Bill Blaikie right).

"I cite them here because Bob gave our community two great plays about our history; firstly, City of the Plains was a musical extravaganza involving over 100 Bathurstians in telling, and singing, about this city's Federation Convention in 1896.

"Then in 2004 we co-wrote A Local Man, the contemplative one-hander performed by Tony Barry which recounted the life story of Ben Chifley, using Chifley's words and writings to reveal the significance of Bathurst to his success as Prime Minister of Australia.

Dr McLachlan said, "I know that Bob enjoyed his time at Charles Sturt University and his work on these two plays. I am also sure that our students and others at the University who worked with him benefited immeasurably.

"Bob's connection with Charles Sturt University, as well as with the wider community of Bathurst, may have been only minor moments in his very full and productive career as a writer. But for me, as an historian endeavouring to tell our community's history, they were milestone moments.

"They were equally times of good cheer and huge fun, especially with Bob telling his amazing stories about the famous and infamous people he had encountered in his life journey," he said.

CSU theatre/media lecturer in the School of Communication and Creative Industries Dr Jerry Boland said Mr Ellis was a great Australian in all the respects that matter, and it was a rare privilege to work with him, Robin McLachlan, and Bill Blaikie over several months on CSU's Centenary of Federation project City of the Plains during late 2000 and early 2001.

"Bob Ellis was such a unique individual," Dr Boland said. "His presentation of self was a sort of magnificent, yet understated, dishevelment that could never cloak the brilliance of his wit and erudition.

"I always felt that there was a delightful curmudgeonly sweetness, and kindness, and mischievous naughtiness in both his manner and the way that he would regard you with his eyes in conversation that I found to be just charming. His insider tales of his life within Australian politics and the arts were both enthralling and side-splittingly hilarious."

Former CSU theatre/media lecturer Mr Bill Blaikie said, "As a friend, mentor, artist, writer and gadfly to the great horse of the state Bob Ellis is already sadly missed.

"Bob was a touchstone, the man who grasped the importance of the right word at the right time and shone lights on the importance of Australian history to our present political and cultural stupidities," Mr Blaikie said. "He called it as he saw it, and that seeing was thoroughly and thoughtfully informed and expressed with a sharp, cutting wit.

"His writing and input for City of the Plains with Rob McLachlan and music director Max Reeder helped Bathurst recover its forgotten significance in reigniting the process of Federation that created Australia from six colonies by organising a citizens' meeting to discuss the issue.

"Bob loved Bathurst and waxed lyrical about it as a delightfully liveable town. He also praised the value and achievements of the theatre/media degree taught at Charles Sturt University," Mr Blaikie said.

"Bob's co-written play The Legend of King O'Malley was performed in the Ponton Theatre in Bathurst in 1982, he consulted on a play being written by lecturer Greg McCart in the early 1980's, and he brought his own memorable production of Waiting for Godot to the Ponton Theatre in 2005."