Robert Close (15 July 1903 in Camberwell, Victoria – 17 July 1995 in Palma, Majorca) [1] [2] [3] was an Australian novelist.
His early life was clouded by disappointment. He hated school, and his a passion for a life at sea was blighted when he was found to have colour blindness. Tuberculosis thwarted a possible singing career. During the 1930s Depression, he worked variously as a labourer, manager, salesman, and debt collector. He was an avid reader and won prizes as a short-story writer. [1]
In a widely publicised case, in 1946 he and "Georgian House Pty Ltd", the publisher of his 1945 novel Love Me Sailor, were prosecuted in the Supreme Court of Victoria for " obscene libel". [2] [3] [4] [5] During the first trial, the entire 90,000-word book was read to the jury by counsel for the prosecution twice: the first jury was discharged when the court was notified that the foreman of the jury had discussed the case with one of Close's friends. [6] Close was sentenced to three months' imprisonment and a fine of £100. [7] This was later overturned on appeal; he served 10 days in prison and was fined £150. [7]
Close left Australia for France in 1950. [3] [5] His later works included Eliza Callaghan (1957), loosely based on the life of Elizabeth Callaghan, the spouse of Australian pioneer and businessman John Batman, and The Voyage Continues (1969). [2] He returned to Australia in 1975 but after two years relocated to Majorca, where he died in 1995. [2] [3] His autobiography, Of Salt and Earth, was published in 1977. [1]