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Developments in New Zealand History
is a set of illustrated books covering New Zealand History
from the arrival of the first Polynesian settlers in New
Zealand to the end of the twentieth century. (The Maori
Before the Europeans came to New Zealand, James Cook
and other European Explorers, Whalers and Sealers,
Missionaries and Traders, The Treaty of Waitangi, The
Colonies, The Gold Rushes, The Land Wars, The Turn of the
Century and the four books mentioned above.
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He has written many illustrated
books about specific aspects of New Zealand History,
including a set of books telling The Story of the All
Blacks from the beginning of Rugby in New Zealand to the
most recent World Cup competitions. He has also written
about
New Zealand
Disasters, including The
Napier Earthquake, The Wahine Shipwreck and The Tarawera
Eruption; and
Famous New
Zealanders, including
Edmund Hillary, Katherine Mansfield, Ernest Rutherford,
Janet Frame, Bernard Freyberg, and James K. Baxter.
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Kevin has been
interviewed on National Radio and has undertaken many
speaking and reading engagements at schools, seminars, and
in libraries. He likes to engage with his audiences and
share the more interesting and amusing aspects of his
topics. He enjoys meeting people socially and is involved
with a variety of sports. He belongs to various drama,
music and writing groups.
Children’s Fiction
An unusual
feature of Kevin’s career is that his first book was a
children’s novel The Great Marlin Mystery. The novel
was popular, with over 2000 copies printed and sold and many
distributed through the ‘Lucky Book Club.’ Largely due to
the heavy workload involved in producing over 100
non-fiction books The Great Marlin Mystery remains
his only novel to date. However that will be remedied by the
publication of a second novel Kezia, which is based
on Katherine Mansfield’s childhood in New Zealand.
Nelson Price
Milburn published Kevin’s first work of fiction,
The
Initiation Ceremony
in 1988 as part of their ‘Russell Road
Series.’ He chose this story to read on the popular disc
‘Whispers in the Wind’ produces by Wellington City
Libraries. He later wrote The Case of the missing Bike,
a story with a ‘Good Samaritan’ twist for the same Series.
Kevin has
written short stories for Wendy Pye’s ‘Sunshine’ series,
which are largely exported to the United States. His first
story The Big Fish is about the relationship
between a young boy and an elderly Maori lady who showed him
how to fish. Later he wrote The New Boy, a story
involving a boy who finds life difficult after moving from a
small country school to a larger school in the city.
Radio
Stories
Kevin wrote
several stories for National Radio’s “Ears’ Programmes. His
first, The New Boy, was adapted for radio with the
publisher’s permission. His next efforts, Lorna and The
Ladybird and Lost, were later converted into
picture books. More recently Kevin has contributed two
stories involving the lives of famous New Zealanders -
Meeting George Nepia and A Step in the Right
Direction (about John Trimmer).
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Books
Kevin’s picture
book series, published by Kotuku Publishing includes two of
his radio stories, Lost and Lorna and the
Ladybird. The catalyst for the series was Franks
Goat, based on a family event that took place in the
seaside suburb of Seatoun in the 1920s. It was written by
his cousin Kay Webley and Illustrated by another cousin
Jenny Young. Moonbiter is a story based on an
Aboriginal legend that Kevin heard while teaching in
Australia. He has also written short stories for the School
Journals, including Meeting George Nepia.
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The Future
Kevin’s plans
for the future include writing another novel and rewriting
and republishing some of his earlier works, including The
Story of the All Blacks, New Zealand Disasters
and some of the biographies of Famous New Zealanders
that are gradually going out of print. He also
intends to continue making speaking and reading visits to
schools and to other institutions, upon request. |
