I grew up in Fitzroy in the 1950s and 1960s. Years later, those childhood memories became my memoir Roy Boy.

In those days, Fitzroy was a close-knit community with its share of ratbags, drunks and crooks. A cheeky, boisterous son of migrant parents, I roamed the streets in search of fun and adventure — and found much more than I bargained for!

Three ways to experience my story …

Walk It

Roy Boy Fitzroy Walking Tours – ‘the centre of my universe’.

Experience Fitzroy through the eyes of someone who grew up there.

Step back into the Fitzroy of the 1950s and 1960s. Join Christopher Bennett, author of Roy Boy, as he shares the characters, stories and places of the Fitzroy he knew as a boy. Discover the colourful, working-class neighbourhood that once was and hear the stories from someone who lived it.

Hear It

Stories that entertain, inspire and stay with you. Christopher Bennett brings his colourful childhood in 1950s and 1960s Fitzroy to life with funny, surprising and sometimes confronting stories from Roy Boy.

His engaging presentations explore resilience, adversity, community and the characters who shaped his early life with plenty of humour along the way.

Read It

The memoir behind the stories, Roy Boy takes you back to the gritty, colourful streets of Fitzroy in the 1950s and 1960s—a place of migrant families, ratbags, drunks and unforgettable characters.

With humour, honesty and a touch of mischief, Christopher Bennett brings to life a childhood in a Fitzroy that has long since disappeared.