sentences:  In October 1958, Norton and his partners sold their newspapers to the Fairfax group from whom they were acquired by Rupert Murdoch in 1959.Norton was incensed by the content of a Cyril Pearl book highly critical of Norton's deceased father, and was "widely believed" to have lobbied the NSW State Government for changes that in 1958 extended defamation law to cover the reputation of the dead.Although Ezra Norton retained some business interests, by 1960 he had virtually retired from the business world.