Hardy, Frank (1917-1994), an Australian author, became known for novels and short stories that attacked the corruption and injustice he saw in modern society. Hardy’s first novel, Power Without Glory (1950), led to a charge of criminal libel because of the book’s portrayal of two characters. Hardy was acquitted after a nine-month trial, but the controversy made the author an international celebrity.
Hardy wrote five more novels—The Four-Legged Lottery (1958), The Outcasts of Foolgarah (1971), But the Dead Are Many (1975), Who Shot George Kirkland? (1981), and The Obsession of Oscar Oswald (1983). Many critics consider Hardy’s best writing to be his short stories. The most notable of his many short-story collections is A Frank Hardy Swag (1982).
Hardy also wrote three collections of humorous stories featuring the characters Billy Borker and Truthful Jones, as well as a book of cricket stories with the English cricketer Freddie Trueman, called You Nearly Had Him That Time (1978). Hardy wrote a memoir, The Hard Way (1961), which deals with the background of Power Without Glory. He also wrote the plays Faces in the Street (1990) and Mary Lives! (1992).
Francis Joseph Hardy was born on March 21, 1917, in Southern Cross, near Warrnambool in Victoria. He later wrote many stories about the community, which he called Benson’s Valley. Hardy grew up in Bacchus Marsh, west of Melbourne. He left school at the age of 13 and worked in a variety of jobs before moving to Melbourne, where he worked as a cartoonist and journalist. Hardy died on Jan. 28, 1994.
