Francis Patrick Clune, OBE, (27 November 1893 – 11 March 1971) was a best-selling Australian writer, travel writer and popular historian. He was fascinated by the ‘outsiders’ of Australian history such as Captain Melville, Captain Starlight, Martin Cash, Edward Hargraves, Bully Hayes, Jørgen Jørgensen, “Chinese” Morrison, Ben Hall, Ned Kelly, Frederick Bailey Deeming and Louis de Rougemont. Clune also wrote for many magazines including Walkabout, The Bulletin, Pacific Islands Monthly, Smith’s Weekly and ABC Weekly as well as his own Frank Clune’s Adventure Magazine, illustrated by Allan Jordan and published over 8 issues in 1948. He broadcast “Roaming Round Australia” regularly on The ABC from 1945 to 1957. He was an effective promoter of Albert Namatjira and Australian Aborigines generally. Clune had his detractors in the literary world. He was criticized for embellishing the facts in the interests of the narrative, and was met with hostility by General Sir Thomas Blamey for his “irregular methods and indiscreet utterances” during WWII. Regardless of criticism, by the early 1950s, his books had sold in excess of 500,000 copies, much to the delight of his publisher Angus & Robertson.
