Vale Robert Ungar
Publisher and bookseller Robert (Rob) Ungar has died, aged 80.
Hinkler CEO Stephen Ungar, on behalf of the extended family, writes:
It is with great sadness that the family announces that Robert (Rob) Ungar passed away peacefully on Saturday, 7 February, with family and friends by his side.
Rob grew up in a world of books. In the 1950s, his parents owned and ran a bookshop in Hampton Street, Hampton, Victoria. In 1961, his father, Mick Ungar, started Forward Library Supply, later known as Forlib. Rob worked in the business from a very young age. His father arranged a year‑long cadetship in the UK, where Rob learned about bookselling, retail, and publishing with WHSmith, William Collins, and Mills & Boon. One of his earliest achievements was securing the Mills & Boon agency for Forlib. In 1972, William Collins purchased Forlib; Rob stayed on for a few years before founding Budget Books in 1976.
Budget Books specialised in the wholesale supply of value books to grocery and discount department stores. Over time, it evolved into a publishing business that pioneered thematically displayed, character‑licensed product. By the 1980s, Budget Books had secured every major licence, including Disney, Warner, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Bananas in Pyjamas – the Bluey of its day. Budget Books was sold to Reed Elsevier in 1988 and was then known as Reed For Kids. Rob remained with the business until the early 1990s.
In 1993, Rob and his wife, Rosemary, together with Terry Herbert and David Dodd (founders of Bookworld, one of the largest Australian book retail chains of the 1980s), started Hinkler. Shortly afterwards his children, Stephen and Wendy Ungar, joined the company. Rob received the George Robertson Award in 2010. Stephen and his business partner, Nadika Garber, took over Hinkler in 2005; today it is a respected global company, one of the few publishers in the world supplying Walmart book department directly, and one of Australia’s largest independent publishers.
Recipients of the George Robertson Awards in 2010
In addition to having ink running through his veins, Rob had an enduring love of boating. What began more than 60 years ago with a small trailable craft evolved into serious offshore cruising, culminating in his ownership and operation of 7th Heaven, an 88‑foot Princess Y‑class motor yacht. Together with the Princess boats that preceded her, 7th Heaven cruised the east coast from Tasmania to Port Douglas and ventured to Broome and the Kimberley in 2014 and 2021. Following the 2014 voyage, Rob produced the coffee‑table book Kimberley Odyssey, and later a Tasmanian‑themed volume, generously donating the proceeds to his yacht club.
Rob was deeply embedded in the Victorian boating community, with more than four decades at Sandringham Yacht Club, long service at Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron—where he was a former Commodore and Life Member—and later at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron. For over 20 years he cruised Bass Strait annually, often circumnavigating Tasmania, and in 2019 he led a 10‑boat flotilla on another of his acclaimed Tasmanian voyages. On his return, his lifetime contribution to boating was formally recognised when he was named Australian Sailing’s Victorian Motor Yachtsperson of the Year.
Rob’s affable, approachable, and generous nature will be greatly missed across all the communities he touched. His family wish to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and condolences.
A service to celebrate Robert’s life will be held at 2.00 pm on Thursday, 19 February 2026, at Sandringham Yacht Club. In keeping with Rob’s wishes, attendees are asked not to wear sombre colours; bright clothing is encouraged. Please do not send flowers. Instead, the family invites you to consider making a donation to the Leukaemia Foundation.
Category: Obituaries
