I'm not used to writing about myself. I must have loved reading from birth. When I was 2 and staying with my Grandmother,my sister was being born, I demanded thousands of books. Not being satisfied with every book in the house being put on my bed, I got the fork from the fireside set of implements and said to Grandma, "I'll fork you you beast". I hope she chastised me.
I have 2 adult sons, two daughters-in-law.
I am a teacher at the local college (secondary school) and teach English and Maori.
I used to be a competitive surfer but my outdoor activities are now walking and gardening.I love growing my own vegetables and planting native plants and trees.
I started Tai Chi last year but let it lapse. Must start again this year.
We have always had a dog, usually large and benign, but since the last one died I don't think I will get another. My sons want me to but it's all very well for them. They both live 2-3 hours away.Having been brought up on a farm, where dogs are NOT pets, I won't let a dog in the house or car. This creates problems when going away.
I love music, especially folk (Joan Baez has been my hero since I was 14),and I really like the recent CD by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss.


Books Read 2008
I See You - Greg Hurwitz
Stalked - Brian Freeman
Buried - Mark Billingham
Death Message - Mark Billingham
The Almost Moon - Alice Sebold
Transformed by the Light - Cherie Sutherland
A Welcome Grave - Michael Koryta
Black Seconds - Karin Fossum
Book of the Dead - Patricia Cornwell
The Cruellest Month - Louise Penny
Missing Presumed Dead - Arlene Hunt
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Hidden Depths - Ann Cleeves
A Brief History of the Dead - Kevin Brockmeier
This Night's Foul Work - Fred Vargas
Broken Angels - Richard Montanari
The Skin Gods - Richard Montanari
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
The Sunday Philosophy Club - Alexander McCall Smith
Lottery - Patricia Wood
Kennedy's Brain - Henning Mankell
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Skin & Bone - Kathryn Fox
Slow Man - J.M. Coetzee
Where the Heart Is - Billie Letts
Silence of the Grave - Arnaldur Indridason
The Cupboard - Rose Tremain
I Saw You - Julie Parsons
Bridie - Paulo Coelho
Killer Heat - Linda Fairstein
The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton
Whispers in the Graveyard - Theresa Breslin
edwin & matilda - Laurence Fearnley
The Riders - Tim Winton
Sacrifice - SJ Bolton
The Way I Found Her - Rose Tremain
Divisadero - Michael Ondaatje
Run - Ann Patchett
The Insufficiency of Maps - Nora Pierce
The Death Chamber - Sarah Rayne
The Guernsey Literary A.P.P.S. - Mary Ann Schaffer
A Perfectly Good Family - Lionel Schriver
The Touch - Julie Myerson
IN VARIOUS STAGES OF READ-EDNESS

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon ( finding this tedious at the mo. Will read, in bits, at school).
Bleak House - Charles Dickens
Bury Me Standing - Isabel Fonseca
Launching Maori Futures - Mason Durie
The Fallen - Jefferson Parker
As it is in Heaven - Niall Williams
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Going West - Maurice Gee
Death Sentence the Decay of Public Language - Don Watson
The Sweetest Dream - Doris Lessing
The Stolen Child - Keith Donohue


A bit of a protester in my youth, anti-war, anti-nuclear and anti-apatheid. No, I'm not an ageing hippy, well ageing, yes.

Politically I lean towards the Greens but don't necessarily vote that way.
I don't like being in a city for longer than a week.
I don't like hypocrisy, power-plays and greed.
I love wit, intelligence (used humanely) and, believe it or not teenagers.