Robert G. Barrett

Robert George Barrett (14 November 1942 – 20 September 2012)[1] was a popular Australian author of numerous books, most of them featuring the fictional Australian character Les Norton.

Best selling author

The character "Les Norton" was based on two likeable Sydney larrikin identities, Ken Wills, (Willsy) a polyathlete who was a retired Sydney TRG/ water police officer, deep sea diver, first grade rugby league player for South Sydney in the mid 70s, a professional boxer and a skiing gold medallist, although there is no corroborating evidence for many of these claims. The other character was amateur boxer turned seaman/waterfront worker "William ( Doogza ) Davis" an underworld hard man.

Robert Barrett worked as a DJ and his two friends worked as doormen at "Randi Wix" night club in Randwick, thinly veiled as the nightclub where Les works in the tales (the nightclub in the books, the Kelly Club as it is called is actually based on the Kellett Club, a Terrace house in Kellett St Kings Cross as small but well known private casino). Both Doogsa and Willsy had associations with the Kellet club; Barrett did not. After work they would "grab drinks at the early opener at Kings Cross and swap stories," whilst Barrett jotted down the occasional note. A montage of these stories and the continuing life experiences of these two uniquely Australian individuals are what appears in the Les Norton series. Therefore, the Les Norton tales are truer than may be imagined.

Robert G. Barrett also wrote other single book stories. 'So What Do You Reckon?' is a collection of Robert's columns from when he was a columnist for the Australian People magazine. Barrett's books sold over 1,000,000 copies in Australia.

Death

Robert Barrett died at Terrigal, New South Wales on 20 September 2012 after enduring a long battle with bowel cancer.[2][3]

Books

Les Norton series
  • You Wouldn’t Be Dead for Quids (1985)
  • The Real Thing (1986)
  • The Boys From Binjiwunyawunya (1987)
  • The Godson (1989)
  • Between the Devlin And The Deep Blue Seas (1991)
  • White Shoes, White Lines and Blackie (1992)
  • And De Fun Don’t Dun (1993)
  • Mele Kalikimaka Mr Walker (1994)
  • The Day of The Gecko (1995)
  • Rider on the Storm and Other Bits and Barrett (1996)
  • Guns ’N’ Rosé (1996)
  • Mud Crab Boogie (1998)
  • Goodoo Goodoo (1998)
  • The Wind and the Monkey (1999)
  • Leaving Bondi (2000)
  • Mystery Bay Blues (2003)
  • Rosa-Marie's Baby (2004)
  • Crime Scene Cessnock (2005)
  • Les Norton and the Case of the Talking Pie Crust (2007)
  • High Noon in Nimbin (2010)

Standalone novels
  • Davo’s Little Something (1992)
  • The Ultimate Aphrodisiac (2002)
  • Trifecta (2004) (Omnibus combining Mud Crab Boogie, The Wind and the Monkey & So What Do You Reckon?)
  • The Tesla Legacy (2006)
  • Still Riding on the Storm (2011)

Non-Fiction
  • So What Do You Reckon? (1997)

References
  1. "Larrikin Aussie author Barrett dies". News.ninemsn.com.au. 13 September 2009. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  2. "Larrikin author Robert G. Barrett dies". abc.net.au. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  3. Daily Telegraph, Sydney. Death notice - 26/09/2012
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