James mcneish biography

Biography.
Sir James McNeish was a well-known novelist, biographer and playwright.
Sir James Henry Peter McNeish KNZM was a New Zealand novelist, playwright and biographer.

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James McNeish Biography

Nationality: New Zealander. Born: Auckland, New Zealand, 1931. Education: University of Auckland, B.A. 1952. Military Service: Territorial Service Army of New Zealand, World War II. Career: Journalist and arts editor, New Zealand Herald, Auckland, New Zealand, 1950-58; teacher, London, England, 1960-62; freelance radio broadcaster and radio documentary producer, 1962—. Lives in New Zealand. Agent: Vivienne Schuster, John Farquharson Ltd., 162 Regent Street, London W1R 5TB, England.

PUBLICATIONS

Novels

Mackenzie. Auckland, New Zealand, Hodder & Stoughton, 1970.

The Mackenzie Affair. Auckland, New Zealand, Hodder & Stoughton, 1972.

The Glass Zoo. New York, St. Martin's, 1976.

Joy. Auckland, New Zealand, Hodder & Stoughton, 1982.

Lovelock. Auckland, New Zealand, Hodder & Stoughton, 1986.

Penelope's Island. London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1990.

My Name Is Paradiso. Auckland, New Zealand, David Ling, 1995.

Mr. Halliday and the Circus Master. N.p. 1996.

Other

Tavern in the Town. Wellington,

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Academy of New Zealand Literature

Bernard Brown – distinguished poet, law professor and New Zealand Society of Authors luminary – corresponded frequently with Sir James McNeish over thirty years. Bernard is currently writing the epilogue to Breaking the Ranks, Sir James’ final book, that will be published next April. Following is Bernard’s eulogy for Sir James. It was recorded by Miranda James in Auckland and played at Sir James’ memorial at Old St Paul’s in Wellington on 24 November 2016.

The last time I talked with James it was about courage – a commodity with which he was amply endowed. He was speaking of Brigadier General Reg Miles, one of his triumvirate in Breaking Ranks.

James asked, ‘what is it like being under fire? How does one cope?’

It had happened to Miles scores of times, to me only once in a Malayan jungle. Reg plainly was very brave morally and physically.

‘Well,’ I answered, ‘I was a coward. If I had been wearing a white shirt and not a khaki one I would have waved it to the enemy. Trouble was, I wasn’t sure who was the enemy

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Touchstones: A Memoir

James McNeish, novelist, playwright and biographer, lives in New Zealand. He is the author of over 25 books and plays, and his work has received acclaim both in New Zealand and internationally. In the 1960s he worked in London’s Theatre Workshop, known for its socially committed drama, wrote and presented feature and documentary programmes for BBC Radio, and wrote for The Guardian and The Observer. As critic Denis Welsh has observed, the ‘themes close to the writer’s heart [are] the nature of justice, the quest for truth, race relations, prison rehabilitation, and the reliability of memory’. In 2010 he received the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Non-Fiction. He was knighted for services to literature in 2011. The New Zealand Listener noted that McNeish’s standing is ‘perhaps unique among New Zealand writers in the facility with which he has moved back and forth between fiction and non-fiction’, while The New Zealand Herald has identified him as ‘A major figure in New Zealand literature . . . His writing is masterful, his