Graham’s first job in publishing was as a photo-journalist. He covered the 1951 waterfront strike; Ed Hillary’s wedding in September 1953, travelled in royal cavalcades with the Queen (1953), the Queen Mother (1958). Other assignments included the tragic Tangiwai railway disaster in 1953, the last TEAL flying boat, Aotearoa II taking off for Sydney in June 1954, the signing of the contract to build the Auckland Harbour Bridge in October 1954, the famous Springbok tour in 1956, he was sitting in the co-pilot’s seat when Freddie Ladd, an Auckland personality in the 1950s, flew illegally under the Auckland Harbour bridge before the official opening. He rode horse back with back country folk in the heart of the South Island when doing photo essays for the Weekly News – a few highlights from his early years.
He worked on the Napier Daily Telegraph where I first met him in the early 60s. He was the first person with a photographic background to become an illustrations editor of a New Zealand Metropolitan daily newspaper, the New Zealand Herald.
His first book The End of the Penny Section, published by A.H. & A.W. Reed, was the best selling New Zealand non-fiction book in 1973 and I recall selling quite a pile of them at Beattie & Forbes Bookshop that Christmas. He joined the publishing house of A.H. & A.W. Reed in Wellington in January 1975 as executive director, art & production.
Over the years, Grantham House has published a wide range of books on subjects as varied as a clairvoyant’s life to rugby trivia; titles have included the language of alcohol, volumes by New Zealand’s famous story teller Jim Henderson, the Colonial New Zealand Wars, early Colonial Toys, architecture, antique furniture, New Zealand birds, cricket, food, capital crimes, art, saloon motor racing. A series on NZ tragedies: fires, earthquakes, shipwrecks, aviation. Pictorial histories, a series on the motorcar in New Zealand, and books on New Zealand’s colourful transportation past.
The Bookman has been assured that although Margaret Thatcher was born and bred in Grantham in the United Kingdom, that had nothing to do with the naming of the imprint. Grantham is the Norman form of the name Graham.
Away from publishing, he has served as a trustee on the boards of three charities, Ronald McDonald House, The New Zealand Centre for Photography, and in the early 1990s, was chairman of the Wellington City Mission Board. He was acknowledged recently by the Department of Conservation as the primer mover in 1956 to establish the first transport museum in New Zealand.
Footnote:
The Bookman offers his warmest congratulations to Graham Stewart on Grantham House’s longevity and on the significant body of publishing they have achieved over the past quarter of a century. These books represent a valuable contribution to the recording of NZ’s history presented in a popular, accessible and pictorial manner.
It also occurs to The Bookman that Wellington is something of a little capital for smallish, impressive independent book publishers – others that spring to mind include Bridget Williams Books, Awa Press, Huia Books, Silver Owl Press, Steele Roberts, Ngaio Press – who have I missed out?
Footnote:
Graham Stewart's first book - ‘The End of the Penny Section’ (AH & AW Reed) was launched in Auckland by the Lord high priest of vintage cars, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu in January 1973 – just over 37 years ago -
The following photo will bring back memories for older hands in the book trade like me, it shows Tom Kennedy, the AH & AW Reed marketing guru of those years with a copy of the book.
I always greatly enjoyed Tom Kennedy's occasional visits to Hawkes Bay. He was a ray of sunshine and such an enthusiast. Photo kindly supplied by Graham Stewart.
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