George Johnston started his career in journalism with the Melbourne Argus when he was just sixteen. After his work as a correspondent during World War II Johnston began to focus on literature when he moved to the Greek islands with his second wife Charmian Clift. It was the strength of his honesty about humanity and relationships that earned him his place in Australia’s literary canon. Johnston in 1970 after a long battle with tuberculosis, but his enduring myth and greatness lives on through two semi-autobiographical works for which he was awarded the Miles Franklin Award in 1964 for My Brother Jack and in 1969 for Clean Straw for Nothing.
