24 Facts About Frank Hardy

Francis Joseph Hardy, published as Frank J Hardy and under the pseudonym Ross Franklyn, was an Australian novelist and writer.

Frank Hardy is best known for his 1950 novel Power Without Glory, and for his later political activism.

Frank Hardy brought the plight of Aboriginal Australians to international attention with the publication of his book, The Unlucky Australians, in 1968, written during the Gurindji Strike.

Frank Hardy ran unsuccessfully for the Australian parliament twice as a Communist Party of Australia candidate.

Frank Hardy, the fifth of the eight children of Thomas and Winifred Hardy, was born on 21 March 1917 at Southern Cross in Western Victoria and later moved with his family to Bacchus Marsh, west of Melbourne.

In 1931 Hardy left school, aged 14, and embarked upon a series of manual jobs.

Frank Hardy later did manual work "in and around Bacchus Marsh in the milk factory, digging potatoes, picking tomatoes and fruit".

Frank Hardy claimed himself that he left home when he was 13 because "his dad couldn't get the dole" with him at home.

In 1940, Frank Hardy married Rosslyn Couper and they had three children, Frances, Alan and Shirley.

Frank Hardy stood unsuccessfully twice as a CPA candidate for public office: in 1953 as a Senate candidate for Victoria, and in 1955 for the seat of Mackellar in the House of Representatives.

Frank Hardy stood unsuccessfully for the National Committee of the CPA in 1955 and again in 1967.

Frank Hardy was called up for army service and became a member the Citizen Military Force on 22 April 1942.

Frank Hardy spent more than a year based in the Melbourne area, first with the Area Staff of the 3rd Military District and then as a clerk and draughtsman with the Australian Army Ordnance Corps.

Frank Hardy later transferred to the 8th Advanced Ordnance Depot and edited the unit newspaper, the Troppo Tribune.

Frank Hardy continued to work in journalism for most of his life.

Frank Hardy played an active role in assisting the Gurindji people in the Gurindji strike in the mid to late 1960s.

In 1950 Frank Hardy was arrested for criminal libel and had to defend Power Without Glory in a celebrated case shortly after its publication.

Frank Hardy was acquitted and it was the last criminal libel case launched in Victoria; all subsequent libel cases have been civil.

In 1968, Frank Hardy published The Unlucky Australians, with a foreword by Donald Horne and contributions by Vincent Lingiari, Aboriginal Union organiser Daniel Dexter, actor Robert Tudawali and others, telling the story of the Gurindji people based on personal narratives, and the Gurindji Strike.

Frank Hardy wrote plays, including Who was Henry Larsen and Faces in the Street, which were both based on Henry Lawson.

Frank Hardy founded the Realist Writers Group, which he represented in 1951 at the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in Berlin.

Frank Hardy died at his home in North Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, from a heart attack on 28 January 1994, aged 76.

Frank Hardy's cremated remains were interred at Fawkner Memorial Park.

Frank Hardy's granddaughter, Marieke Hardy, is a writer in Melbourne.