When Jack visits his grandparents, they tell him stories - each outdoing the other with a tale taller and wilder than the last.
Jack Lasenby, one of New Zealand's best-known writers for young
people, was born in Waharoa in 1931. The same year there was the
Great Depression and the Napier Earthquake, so it was called the
Year of Disappointments. In the 1950s Jack was a deer culler and
possum trapper in the Ureweras. He became a teacher, edited that
cultural treasure the School Journal, and lectured in English at
the remarkable Wellington Teachers' College, where he began his
first novel. He's published many award-winning books such as
Because We Were the Travellers and the Seddon Street Gang trilogy
(Dead Man's Head, The Waterfall, and The Battle of Pook Island). In
2014, Jack was given the Prime Minister's Award for Literary
Achievement, recognising his "outstanding contribution to New
Zealand literature". He writes in a flat high above the tumultuous
city of Wellington, enjoying its great winds and stormy skies, and
ranting to the people far below, who take no notice and can't hear
him anyway.
Bob Kerr first illustrated one of Jack's books years ago. His
daughter Kathleen was so excited she demanded that they go and meet
the famous author. They travelled for days by steam train and Model
T Ford, and finally found Jack fishing from the front window of his
house beside Porirua Harbour. "Would you like a cup of tea and a
slice of sponge cake?" asked Jack. "Yes, yes, yes!" said Kathleen,
jumping up and down on Jack's sofa. When Bob realised that authors
could afford sponge cake he started writing his own books. These
include Mechanical Harry, which won the Children's Choice Award at
the 1997 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young
Adults, and After The War, which won the PANZ Book Design Award for
Best Use of Illustration in 2001. He recently wrote and illustrated
Changing Times- The Story of a New Zealand Town and its Newspaper,
which was named a 2016 Storylines Notable Picture Book.
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