A visitor picked up the novel and leafed through it for some time. 'You know why it's an easy read?' asked his guest. 'Well,' says the blushing author. 'It's not for me to say.' 'Simple, it's the leading.' 'Eh?' 'Yeah, the leading. It doesn't matter what the font size is, if the leading is generous, she's an easy read.'
Design house Mission Hall has already had public recognition of their skills with this year's Pindar Award for Best Typography from the Publishers Association of New Zealand.
The author thanked the Mission Hall team for their cutting edge design, suggesting you can indeed judge a book both by its cover and its inside appearance.
He then held up the student magazine on the far right of the picture as an example of how far he has come in publishing, for this was his first effort at writing and publishing 50 years ago, when and where the novel is set, at Wellington Teachers College. Looking on is Mission Hall host Linda Niccol, short story writer and screen writer of the movie 'Second Hand Wedding'.
Linda Niccol has lost patience with the author's historical rambling, tapped his shoulder, picked up the wool hook that plays a crucial part in the novel, and tells the audience about the book. It is coming-of-age tale of a callow lad discovering wine, women and fun in that watershed year when New Zealand emerged out of the frugal straightjacket of its own making.
Silver Owl Press http://www.davidmcgill.co.nz/ - $39.85
Lawyer John Tannahill on the left is still making headlines defending the hapless, but he is here to get a copy of this rollicking student yarn from the year when he appeared with the author in the Wellington university revue.
Among the guests on the right is Jill Ward in grey with a red neckpiece, who wrote poetry at Wellington Teachers College with the author in 1960. Jill still writes poetry, recently winning a local cafe poem award, and is now celebrated as the collector who was the model for her son's movie 'Second Hand Wedding'. On the far wall are LPs from 1960 prominent in the novel, including Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald and Edith Piaf.
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