John O'Grady
John O'Grady did not set out to be a writer. A pharmacist and founder of the Sydney Repetory Theatre, he occasionally wrote one-act plays for its benefit. After mocking his brother Frank's historical fiction, John accepted a bet that he could write a book and get it published. They're a Weird Mob was surprisingly successful, the first of his 18 books to be published.
“There is no better way of life in the world than that of the Australian. I firmly believe this. The grumbling, growling, cursing, profane, laughing, beer drinking, abusive, loyal-to-his-mates Australian is one of the few free men left on this earth. He fears no one, crawls to no one, bludges on no one, and acknowledges no master. Learn his way. Learn his language. Get yourself accepted as one of him; and you will enter a world that you never dreamed existed. And once you have entered it, you will never leave it.”
John O'Grady