Journalist Abraham Maddison has worked in WA and SA newspapers since 1988, reporting and editing under his adoptive name, Derek Pedley. Under that name, he also published three true crime books, including two shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Crime Awards. He was a News Editor at the Advertiser in Adelaide and edited the paper's state and federal political coverage from 2013-2020. Abraham walked away from journalism in 2020 to complete Crazy Bastard, a memoir of his 1972 forced adoption, which took four years to research and write. He is now a sub editor at the Sunraysia Daily in Mildura. He lives in Adelaide and is married to historian Dr Shannon Schedlich, who co-researched and edited his memoir.