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

John Manifold, poet, was born in Melbourne and educated at Geelong Church of England Grammar School and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he became a member of the Communist Party. During the Second World War, he served in the British Army's Intelligence Corps in Africa and Western Europe. After the war he moved back to London before returning to Australia in 1949, settling in Wynnum, Brisbane. Manifold established the Realist Writers group in 1950, and was involved in a number of communist-associated groups, including the Communist Arts Group. As well as publishing poetry, he wrote non-fiction on various themes, notably Australian bush ballads which he collected and was particularly interested in.