Sir James Henry Peter McNeish KNZM (23 October 1931 â€" 11 November
2016) was a New Zealand novelist, playwright and biographer.McNeish
attended Auckland Grammar School and graduated from Auckland
University College with a degree in languages. He travelled the world
as a young man, working as a deckhand on a Norwegian freighter in
1958, and recording folk music in 21 countries. He worked in the
Theatre Workshop in London with Joan Littlewood, and was influenced by
her spirit of socially-committed drama. He worked as a freelance
programme and documentary maker for the BBC Radio's Features
Department in the 1960s. He also wrote for The Guardian and The
Observer. He spent three years in Sicily with Danilo Dolci, the
non-violent anti-Mafia reformer, and wrote Fire under the Ashes (1965,
London: Hodder and Stoughton)[2] a biographical account of Dolci's
life which is remarkable for its objectivity and clarity. He wrote
some 25 books.McNeish's writing has been the subject of critical
acclaim both at home and abroad. Besides New Zealand, his books are
set in Sicily, London, Israel and New Caledonia. He was described as
"prolific" by the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. His book
Lovelock was nominated for the 1986 Booker Prize.[3]
2016) was a New Zealand novelist, playwright and biographer.McNeish
attended Auckland Grammar School and graduated from Auckland
University College with a degree in languages. He travelled the world
as a young man, working as a deckhand on a Norwegian freighter in
1958, and recording folk music in 21 countries. He worked in the
Theatre Workshop in London with Joan Littlewood, and was influenced by
her spirit of socially-committed drama. He worked as a freelance
programme and documentary maker for the BBC Radio's Features
Department in the 1960s. He also wrote for The Guardian and The
Observer. He spent three years in Sicily with Danilo Dolci, the
non-violent anti-Mafia reformer, and wrote Fire under the Ashes (1965,
London: Hodder and Stoughton)[2] a biographical account of Dolci's
life which is remarkable for its objectivity and clarity. He wrote
some 25 books.McNeish's writing has been the subject of critical
acclaim both at home and abroad. Besides New Zealand, his books are
set in Sicily, London, Israel and New Caledonia. He was described as
"prolific" by the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. His book
Lovelock was nominated for the 1986 Booker Prize.[3]
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