I've been a George Johnston/Charmian Clift fan ever since my visit to their "Australian House" on the Greek island of Hydra Island during my own (Greek) salad days in Greece. Much has been written about their tragic homecoming in 1964, and much can be read between the lines from their Passenger Arrival Cards stored with the National Archives of Australia.
The first one to return home in 1964 after an absence of thirteen years was George who was paid the airfare and given an enthusiastic welcome following the success of his book "My Brother Jack".
The family, wife Charmian Clift, and children Shane, Martin, and Jason, arrived six months later aboard a migrant ship, the ELLINIS, quite literally as migrants, subsidised by the government whose policy it was to encourage its own nationals to return.
Charmian Clift wrote about this experience in her story "On Being A Hown-Grown Migrant" (page 100 of "Trouble in Lotus Land") and "Coming Home" (page 1 of "Images In Aspic").
She supported her growing family and an ailing husband with her column-writing for the "Sydney Morning Herald" and "Melbourne Herald", three of which, "Norfolk Island (1)" and "Norfolk Island (2)" and "(3)", would have been written following their 12-day trip to Norfolk Island in 1969. They were also reprinted in the last of her unanthologised writing from her weekly columns, "Being Alone With Oneself - Essays 1968-1969", which covered various aspects of the changing face of Australia.
In the history of tragedy, the House of Johnston seems fit to rival the House of Atreus: Charmian Clift committed suicide in 1969; George Johnston died in 1970, officially of tuberculosis, although by then his health must have been undermined by long years of heavy smoking and drinking; Shane committed suicide in 1974; in 1988 Johnston's daughter by his first marriage, Gae, died of a drug overdose; Martin died of alcoholism at 42 in 1990; only Hydra-born Jason still survives.
The house at 112 Raglan Street in Mosman in which the Johnston family finally settled after they had returned to Australia, and in which Shane so tragically gassed herself in 1974 - click here - sold last year for $5,720,000. I wonder if its new owners know its tragic history.
P.S. Read some of Charmian Clift's unforgettable writing: "Mermaid Singing" and "Strong-Man from Piraeus and Other Stories". If you aren't a member yet, SIGN UP now (it's free!), then LOG IN, and BORROW.
