For thousands of people in Australia, New Zealand and around the world, it was a black day in 2017 when John Clarke died.

The beloved political satirical writer and performer had collapsed while bushwalking in the Grampians, Victoria, and could not be revived.

While the shock of his death reverberated around his birth country of New Zealand, where he had created the character of Fred Dagg, and Australia, where his career had based him for many years, his tight-knit family in Melbourne was at the centre of the grief.

This memoir-cum-biography by his elder daughter tells the human story of John Clarke, described by Lorin as ‘our beloved, hilarious, brilliant Dad’. Just what he had meant to his devastated fans was brought home to the family after his death, and even in encounters years later.

Lorin Clarke has interspersed her affectionate account of his life with excerpts from what she and her sister, Lucia, once produced as the English/Clarke, Clarke/English dictionary, detailing some of the glorious expressions the family, particularly her father, had coined.

His father from New Zealand, was the WFF (White Furry Fellow), the national broadcaster was ‘the Abe’, and John himself was prone to delivering ‘leckies’ (lectures) on all kinds of subjects, especially to unsuspecting members of the public to whom he loved talking. And don’t forget the sport of ‘farnarkling’ which he invented for The Gillies Report.

But Lorin stresses that he was most of all a great listener, often drawing inspiration from overheard conversations.

A talented writer herself, she weaves Would That Be Funny? of a loving and hilarious family with the story of her father’s life in New Zealand, England and Australia. When people asked her if he was always funny at home, the answer was that he was outrageously, consistently, shockingly, will-I-ever-breathe-again hilarious; and when it came to conversation, the man was a virtuoso.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lorin Clarke is the creator of the award-winning observational audio fiction serial, ‘The Fitzroy Diaries’, three series of which have been to air on ABC RN, as well as being released as a podcast. Lorin writes regularly for children’s television and her children’s book, Our (Last) Trip to the Market was published in 2017. Lorin writes the fortnightly Public Service Announcement column for the Big Issue.

Visit Lorin Clarke’s website