Robert Menzies E-Book The Zenith Syndrome
   


Robert Menzies Author's Biography


Robert Menzies Author of The Zenith
     

Robert Menzies – author

 Robert Menzies BA, Dip. Ed., Grad. Dip. Ed. Admin., M. Ed. Admin., was born in 1949 in a little country town called Dorrigo, on the coastal edge of the northern tablelands of NSW, Australia. He was named after the prime minister at the time, an act for which he has never forgiven his parents to this day. But it gets worse. His parents received a telegram from the prime minister just after he was christened, congratulating them both on their ‘family planning.’ They were confused by this message so they did some research and discovered to their dubious delight that their son’s birthday happened to fall on the same date as his illustrious namesake—December 20th. From that moment on, Robert (the author, not PM) was burdened with a double-whammy. Not only did he have to cope with all the schoolyard teasing about his name, (anyone called ‘Julia Gillard’ today would understand) but he also had to bear the lofty expectations of his sweet little God-fearing mother, who told the world that ‘God had ordained her son to become Australia’s future prime minister.’
     

 He loved his mother dearly, but thought enough was enough. It turned him off politics for life. During his childhood Robert came in contact with a large range of dysfunctional characters—usually itinerants or seasonal workers passing through the fringe-dwelling community of Dorrigo. These characters were often on the run from deserted wives or the law—or both—and all of them had their stories to tell. It is from these contacts that the inspiration for many of Robert’s characters is drawn. Avoiding politics like the plague, Robert drifted into education, becoming a primary school teacher. But after five years of that he became restless, searching for more exciting things to do. He resigned from teaching and with just three hundred dollars in his pocket, took a flight to London.
 He couldn’t find work and the three hundred dollars soon evaporated. He took the only choice available. He became an itinerant, a vagabond, wandering around Great Britain, sleeping on park benches or in Salvation Army flop joints, if they would have him. He continued this lifestyle for a couple of years and it was during this time that he believes he became a writer, even though he didn’t publish anything until three decades later.
 He met some fascinating characters during this time and he developed the habit of always keeping a notebook handy. He’d jot down quotes, comments, witticisms and observations made by the wide range of fascinating characters he met on the road. He did hundreds of sketches and wrote dozens of poems and short stories. Fortunately he kept all these jottings and now they sit in a very large folder on his office desk. He refers to them regularly and uses them as inspiration in his writing. Robert managed to break the vicious circle of vagrancy after two years of wandering, when he found a job teaching swimming and working as a pool attendant in a heated public pool in London. This enabled him to pay for some Spartan accommodation and save enough money to purchase a second-hand Kombi van with a group of other Aussies and Kiwis. The group spent the next two summers travelling through Europe and North Africa.

 

The Zenith Syndrome

A Novel By
Robert Menzies

More Information:
The Zenith Syndrome


The Zenith Syndrome Ebook Novel
     

 Robert returned to Australia some years later, wiser, older and but still penniless. He was able to land a teaching job, marry a beautiful woman called Merilyn and have two children with her. He went back to university and completed his half-finished degree, then managed to rise through the ranks to become a primary school principal, which he continued doing for another eighteen years in three different private schools in both Sydney and Brisbane. He’s now retired and living on Hope Island on the Queensland Gold Coast with his wife of thirty-two years and his large folder of notes. Finally he can now concentrate solely on his writing.