Artist, activist, teacher and writer born on 28 August 1905 in Melbourne, Australia. Educated at Scotch College, then the University of Melbourne, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in 1927 and a Diploma of Education in 1928. Joined the Communist Party of Australia in 1935. Married his first wife, journalist Glennie Millicent Mills, in 1943, though the marriage ended in divorce. Married his second wife, playwright Mona Alexis Brand, in 1955. Taught at Scotch College and also worked as a journalist during World War Two. Worked as a newspaper editor and published author in his later years. Died on 3 January 2004 in Sydney, Australia.

Doris Catherine Rass, known as Dot Rass, was a well-known and active Communist Party member in Queensland for a long period before moving to New South Wales. She was a regular Tribune newspaper seller, worked at the People's Bookshop in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, and for the Tribune Fair in Glebe, Sydney. She died on 12 July 1980 at Richmond, New South Wales.

Hilda Lane is a descendant of William Lane, originator of the Utopian colony Cosme in Paraguay in the 1890s.