High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Ruth Park (born name : Rosina Ruth Park) AM (24 August 1917 – 14 December 2010) was a New Zealand-born Australian author. Her best known works are the novels The Harp in the South (1948) and Playing Beatie Bow (1980), and the children`s radio serial The Muddle-Headed Wombat (1951–1970), which also spawned a book series (1962–1982).