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Bob Ellis says he may have weeks to live after liver tests deliver 'very bad' news Bob Ellis says he may have weeks to live after liver tests deliver 'very bad' news
(about 3 hours later)
The writer Bob Ellis has been diagnosed with aggressive liver cancer and says he may have just weeks to live.The writer Bob Ellis has been diagnosed with aggressive liver cancer and says he may have just weeks to live.
A prolific author, journalist and screenwriter, Ellis has written speeches for Labor leaders including Bob Carr, Paul Keating and Kim Beazley, but in recent years singled out Julia Gillard for harsh criticism in his election diary Suddenly, Last Winter.A prolific author, journalist and screenwriter, Ellis has written speeches for Labor leaders including Bob Carr, Paul Keating and Kim Beazley, but in recent years singled out Julia Gillard for harsh criticism in his election diary Suddenly, Last Winter.
“The news is very bad and I may have months to live but it is more like weeks,” Ellis, 73, posted on his personal blog Table Talk on Sunday.“The news is very bad and I may have months to live but it is more like weeks,” Ellis, 73, posted on his personal blog Table Talk on Sunday.
The editor of Independent Australia, Dave Donovan, who publishes Ellis’s regular commentary, confirmed the news was bleak on Twitter on Monday.The editor of Independent Australia, Dave Donovan, who publishes Ellis’s regular commentary, confirmed the news was bleak on Twitter on Monday.
Sadly, confirmed Bob Ellis really is very ill and the prognosis is grim.Sadly, confirmed Bob Ellis really is very ill and the prognosis is grim.
Ellis’s friend Wendy Harmer told Guardian Australia she admired him greatly as a writer.Ellis’s friend Wendy Harmer told Guardian Australia she admired him greatly as a writer.
“Bob’s long and passionate love affair with the English language is an inspiration to anyone who loves words,” Harmer said.“Bob’s long and passionate love affair with the English language is an inspiration to anyone who loves words,” Harmer said.
“Every line he writes crackles with energy. Every essay and column is stuffed full of ideas, erudition and an exhortation to action. And, after all these years honing his fine craftsmanship, his words still have the same raw power you’d find from a speaker standing under a tree in the Domain. As a performer, the finest compliment I can offer is that Bob’s words are best said aloud.”“Every line he writes crackles with energy. Every essay and column is stuffed full of ideas, erudition and an exhortation to action. And, after all these years honing his fine craftsmanship, his words still have the same raw power you’d find from a speaker standing under a tree in the Domain. As a performer, the finest compliment I can offer is that Bob’s words are best said aloud.”
Journalist Mike Carlton was a fellow cadet with Ellis in the ABC newsroom in Sydney in the 1960s.Journalist Mike Carlton was a fellow cadet with Ellis in the ABC newsroom in Sydney in the 1960s.
“I’ve always thought he was half mad, but in the nicest possible way, and I amresidually very fond of him,” Carlton told Guardian Australia. “It’s very sad to hear that he is at death’s door although, given his capacity for lurid exaggeration, he may actually be in rude good health but just a bit bored.”“I’ve always thought he was half mad, but in the nicest possible way, and I amresidually very fond of him,” Carlton told Guardian Australia. “It’s very sad to hear that he is at death’s door although, given his capacity for lurid exaggeration, he may actually be in rude good health but just a bit bored.”
A writer of books, plays, screenplays, speeches and commentary for almost 50 years, Ellis is being treated at Mona Vale hospital on Sydney’s northern beaches. A friend told Guardian Australia Ellis was undergoing more tests on Monday.A writer of books, plays, screenplays, speeches and commentary for almost 50 years, Ellis is being treated at Mona Vale hospital on Sydney’s northern beaches. A friend told Guardian Australia Ellis was undergoing more tests on Monday.
Ellis has been posting health updates since Saturday when he revealed was waiting for the result of a liver function test and his blog “may cease altogether”.Ellis has been posting health updates since Saturday when he revealed was waiting for the result of a liver function test and his blog “may cease altogether”.
But not even the shock diagnosis was enough to stop him writing about politics. He continued to blog about his nemesis, the Speaker Bronwyn Bishop, whom he famously stood against in the seat of Mackellar in 1994.But not even the shock diagnosis was enough to stop him writing about politics. He continued to blog about his nemesis, the Speaker Bronwyn Bishop, whom he famously stood against in the seat of Mackellar in 1994.
“It is certain she will not go of her own accord,” he wrote of her expenses crisis.“It is certain she will not go of her own accord,” he wrote of her expenses crisis.
He said Bishop had been well on the way to the prime ministership until he “brought her undone”.He said Bishop had been well on the way to the prime ministership until he “brought her undone”.
Ellis also promised to forge ahead with the launch of his latest book, a “political fiction” called Abbott: The Worst Three Hundred Days, in August if his health permitted.Ellis also promised to forge ahead with the launch of his latest book, a “political fiction” called Abbott: The Worst Three Hundred Days, in August if his health permitted.
As messages of support poured in, Ellis wrote on Monday “Am feeling a bit crook, and hearing of miracle cures ... There have been many, many lovely messages.”As messages of support poured in, Ellis wrote on Monday “Am feeling a bit crook, and hearing of miracle cures ... There have been many, many lovely messages.”
While he has enjoyed acclaimed as an author, a defamation action brought by Tony Abbott and former treasurer Peter Costello against his political book Goodbye Jerusalem (1997) almost broke him and cost the publisher $277,000.While he has enjoyed acclaimed as an author, a defamation action brought by Tony Abbott and former treasurer Peter Costello against his political book Goodbye Jerusalem (1997) almost broke him and cost the publisher $277,000.
“It cost me the right to address massed rallies at demonstrations,” Ellis told the ABC in 2004. “It cost me the column on moral issues I had in the Sydney Morning Herald. It cost me status, unbelievable. I had a future before it. I have now, probably, only a past.”“It cost me the right to address massed rallies at demonstrations,” Ellis told the ABC in 2004. “It cost me the column on moral issues I had in the Sydney Morning Herald. It cost me status, unbelievable. I had a future before it. I have now, probably, only a past.”
He has written dozens of film and television scripts, including the 1992 feature film The Nostradamus Kid, an autobiographical story in which Noah Taylor played a young Ellis in pursuit of a young woman.He has written dozens of film and television scripts, including the 1992 feature film The Nostradamus Kid, an autobiographical story in which Noah Taylor played a young Ellis in pursuit of a young woman.
He also wrote Cactus, Man of Flowers and My First Wife with Paul Cox in the 1990s and won an Australian Film Institute award for the 1978 movie Newsfront.He also wrote Cactus, Man of Flowers and My First Wife with Paul Cox in the 1990s and won an Australian Film Institute award for the 1978 movie Newsfront.
Political strategist and former Rudd adviser Bruce Hawker said he hoped talk of Ellis’s demise was premature and there were “many more years in the old bloke”.
“I think he is unique in Australian political commentary,” Hawker told Guardian Australia. “He’s a highly opinionated writer who has been around for decades and I think people really enjoy his books on political campaigns.
“He’s the closest thing we’ve got to a Hunter S Thompson, edgy style of writing.
“I love Bob’s writing and his darker, sentimental writing is without peer. I hope he just keeps on going for as long as he possibly can and we have a miracle delivery from all this.”
The cinematographer on The Nostradamus Kid, Geoff Burton, said Ellis was “inexplicably” attractive to women in his youth despite his dishevelled appearance.The cinematographer on The Nostradamus Kid, Geoff Burton, said Ellis was “inexplicably” attractive to women in his youth despite his dishevelled appearance.
“He had shocking greasy hair,” Burton told the ABC. “In those days he wore a full-length gaberdine overcoat and for months I never knew what he had on underneath it, if anything. And yet he managed to attract these most extraordinary women.”“He had shocking greasy hair,” Burton told the ABC. “In those days he wore a full-length gaberdine overcoat and for months I never knew what he had on underneath it, if anything. And yet he managed to attract these most extraordinary women.”
His marriage to fellow writer Anne Brooksbank, with whom he has three children, has survived despite his admission of infidelity in the late 1990s.His marriage to fellow writer Anne Brooksbank, with whom he has three children, has survived despite his admission of infidelity in the late 1990s.
Ellis once described himself as somewhere between a philosopher and a standup comedian, both of whom “bring new thoughts in the world”.Ellis once described himself as somewhere between a philosopher and a standup comedian, both of whom “bring new thoughts in the world”.