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Jon Stephen Cleary

ジョン・すてぃーゔん・くりーりー

Jon Sutīfun Kurīrī

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1917-11-22 （Erskineville, New South Wales）
Died
2010-07-19 （New South Wales） age 92
Nationality
Australian
Languages
English
Religion
Roman Catholic
Residence History
Erskineville, New South Wales → Sydney → Italy → London, England → Kirribilli, Sydney

Career

Occupations
writer, novelist
Active Years
1942-2007
Influenced By
Graham Greene

Education

Marist Brothers College, Randwick
Period: 幼少期～1932年
Country: Australia
Left school aged 14 in 1932 to help family financially; worked various jobs including commercial artist.

Awards

Australian Broadcasting Commission prize for radio drama
1944
Work: Safe Horizon
Category: radio drama
Organization: Australian Broadcasting Commission
Result: winner
Australian Literary Society's Crouch Medal
1950
Work: Just Let Me Be
Category: 最優秀オーストラリア小説
Organization: Australian Literary Society
Result: winner
Edgar Award
1975
Work: Peter's Pence
Category: 最優秀小説
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: winner
Australian Crime Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award
1996
Category: 生涯功労
Organization: Australian Crime Writers Association
Result: winner
Ned Kelly Award
1996
Category: 犯罪・ミステリ・探偵ジャンルへの生涯貢献
Organization: Australian Crime Writers Association
Result: winner
Ned Kelly Award
2004
Work: Degrees of Connection
Category: 最優秀小説
Organization: Australian Crime Writers Association
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Sundowners

1951 Drama

Portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next.

familynomadic life
Adaptations
  • [film] The Sundowners / Fred Zinnemann (1960)

The High Commissioner

1966 crime fiction

First Scobie Malone novel about arresting the Australian High Commissioner.

detectivepolitics
Adaptations
  • [film] Nobody Runs Forever (1968)

You Can't See 'Round Corners

1947 novel

Story of an army deserter wanted for murdering his girlfriend in wartime Sydney.

warcrime
Adaptations
  • [film] You Can't See 'Round Corners (1969)
  • [TV series] You Can't See 'Round Corners (1967)

Adaptations

  • Dust in the Sun (from Justin Bayard), The Sundowners, The Green Helmet, Nobody Runs Forever (from The High Commissioner), Scobie Malone (from Helga's Web), High Road to China, etc.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Strong on narrative and dialogueWell-researched underpinningEye for colour and composition

Health

  • heart problems
    2007-2010
    Last three years in ill-health with full-time carer, in and out of hospital.

Legacy

One of the most popular Australian authors of all time, wrote numerous bestselling novels.

Archives

  • Mitchell Library, Sydney

Quotes

  • Don't ever owe anything to anybody.
    Source: Mother's words (childhood)
  • Greene could say more in one phrase than most writers in a chapter.
    Source: Jon Cleary interview (1997)

Trivia

  • Met wife Joy on boat to England in 1946, married five days after landing; two daughters, younger died of breast cancer aged 37.
  • Wife died of Alzheimer's in 2003 after nursing home stay.
  • Served in Australian Army in Middle East and New Guinea during WWII.
  • Influenced by Graham Greene who suggested writing thrillers.