Smoky Joe's Cafe

Arthur Bryce Courtenay AM is a South-African-born naturalized Australian novelist and one of Australia's most commercially successful authors. Born in Johannesburg, Courtenay spent most of his early years in a small village in the Lebombo Mountains in South Africa's Limpopo province. In 1955,... while studying journalism in London, Courtenay met his future wife, Benita, and eventually emigrated to Australia. They married in 1959 and had three sons, Brett, Adam and Damon. Courtenay entered the advertising industry and over a career spanning 34 years was the Creative Director of McCann Erickson, J. Walter Thompson & George Patterson Advertising. In 1991, Damon died at age 24 from AIDS-related complications, contracted through a blood transfusion. Courtenay divorced Benita in 2000 and has acknowledged some indiscretions during their 42-year marriage. He now lives in Canberra, ACT, with his wife, Christine Gee. Benita Courtenay died on 11 March 2007, at the age of 72, four months after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
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