Saturday, September 27, 2008


FASCINATING LOCAL HISTORY LAUNCHED IN STYLE IN PONSONBY

Friday night saw the good and the great of the local community of Ponsonby turn out in large numbers to celebrate the launch of an impressive history of their area.

A full review will follow once The Bookman has had a chance to read the book but meantime suffice to say that this new, handsome and prolifically illustrated Random House publication by two local historians is so appealing that even at $70 a copy the locals were lining up in their droves to buy copies from endlessly energetic local bookseller Carol Beu. Rumour has it the print run was 5000 copies and it is my bet that this first edition will be sold out by Christmas.

The book was launched by local identity Hamish Keith, himself recently published, and I liked his suggestion that books should really be "opened" rather than "launched". Keith took the opportunity to remind his audience of the need to preserve our buildings heritage, a subject about which he writes passionately in his autobiography, Native Wit.

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