Over a busy 60-year career, Australia came to know him as a rogue with a dismal reputation, an alleged corrupter of police, politicians and perhaps even the very moral fabric of Australian society. Well, that’s one side of the story.
The other is that he was one of the most successful self-made men in Australia…A man whose work in Sydney’s King’s Cross saw him celebrated by the areas long-term residents, and respected by his friends, business associates and visiting entertainers, and even by a handful of cynical old senior police.
Abe Saffron has been given all kinds of labels and titles, most of them unflattering – including ‘Mr Sin’ and ‘Gomorrah himself’, a moniker given using parliamentary privilege. But amongst those who know him, he has also been seen as a successful businessman, family man, and supporter of charity. In this detailed look at the life and career of Saffron, journalist and former policeman Duncan McNab explores the man who has attracted so much attention in spite of his attempts to stay out of the limelight.
McNab draws on a range of material, from the records of court appearances and Royal Commissions, to newspapers and personal recollections of people from Saffron’s past to create a detailed and insightful account.
The Usual Suspect: The Life of Abe Saffron, by Duncan McNab
Macmillan, 2005