Barry Humphries and books
Doug Aiton spoke to Barry Humphires in 1990 in Marchetti's Latin, 55 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
After school [Melbourne Grammar - "I'm rather glad I was there. There are friendships I retain. The communication of knowledge was low on priorities. I was taught English by the football coach, Art by the athletics coach..."], Barry said, it was common for him and friends to go into the city. In those days, there were more book shops. One he went to frequently was that of Mrs Ellis Bird, near the Windsor Hotel.
"Mrs Bird used to lunch at the Society, which was then always full of nuns and priests. Mrs Bird had an influence on my reading. At school it was 'Tess of the d'Ur-bervilles', some boring Australian novel, a bit of Shakespeare. Mrs Bird introduced me to other things."
"What?"
"Norman Douglas's 'South Wind'. 'The Monk' by M.G. Lewis, a Gothic 18th century novel. Mrs Bird used to call me Mr Humphries. Unusual for a schoolboy. At that time there were still a couple of hansom cabs at the top of Collins Street."
The Age, 4 November 1990
The Café Latin was originally a dining room established above a wine shop at 206 Exhibition Street c. 1920. In its first decade it was run by a succession of restaurateurs including Filippo Navaretti and Reuben Massoni before Camillo Triaca began his reign. Initially popular with a bohemian crowd, the Latin was one of Melbourne's finest Italian restaurants. It closed in 1955 but was re-established in 1962 by David Triaca at 55 Lonsdale Street. From 1984 it became Marchetti's Latin, before finally closing in 2001. Camillo Triaca and the old Latin are described in Hal Porter's Watcher on the cast-iron balcony (London, 1963).
