David Hallett
International tributes for Margaret Mahy are rolling in as news of her death hits the overseas press.
In an obituary on the homepage of Britain's The Guardian, Mahy was described as one of New Zealand's "most acclaimed literary figures".
Fellow New Zealand children's author Judy Corballis is now based in London and told The Guardian it was a "huge loss".
"She was only 76; we might have expected another 10 years," Corballis said.
"There was such scope and depth in what she did.
"She confronted any topic in her writing, particularly for older children, and she had a tremendous sense of fun, underpinned by a very high intelligence.
''She was interested in science, in the nature of death - all sorts of things. She was very widely read."
The Washington Post and the Huffington Post ran tributes to Mahy and Australia's the Herald Sun detailed her life work.
Prime Minister John Key today expressed his sorrow at her death.
Key said Mahy's books, short stories and contributions to the New Zealand School Journal hade been part of New Zealand children's lives for generations.
"She is widely acknowledged as one of this country's finest authors, and one of the world's greatest writers of children's and young adults' stories."
He said her stories had been translated into many languages and resonated with children worldwide.
Key extended his condolences to the Mahy family and friends.
Mahy was a member of the Order of New Zealand. She won the Carnegie Medal in 1982 and 1984, making her the first writer outside Britain to receive the award. In 2006, she was awarded the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award for her enduring work.
Her daughter, Penny Mahy, and her sisters, Bridget and Helen, were at her side when she died at the Nurse Maude Hospice in St Albans just after 3pm.
"It was very special," Penny Mahy said.
"We're all in shock. Despite the fact we've known it was inevitable, it's still a shock when it actually happens. We're trying to group together as a family.
"We're hoping we'll take a lot of comfort in that."
Mahy was diagnosed with an inoperable tumour in her jaw in April and was admitted to the hospice 10 days ago.
"She was peaceful in the end," her daughter said.
She said her mother’s passing was a "double whammy" after the author's younger brother, Frank, died unexpectedly on Saturday.
Mahy had "one or two [books] in the pipeline" when she died.
"She just had such an enormous output,'' Penny Mahy said.
"Even in her last few months, when she was suffering and in a bit of pain, she would say, 'Oh, that could be an idea for a story'.
''Even in her last weeks she still had an eye for a story. It was so much part of her and central to who she was."
The family received copies of one of Mahy’s final works, The Man from the Land of Fandango, last week.
Penny Mahy described her mother as "quite eccentric".
"She was a weirdo at school. She used to have a lot of fantasies,'' she said.
"I think it did sort of mark her as being a bit special."
Award-winning author and literary professor Bill Manhire said the literary community would mourn Mahy’s passing for some time.
"I think she was loved at the same level that Sir Edmund Hillary was. She’s right up there as one of the great icons of New Zealand."
Full story at The Press.
And in the New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
And American TNT magazine.
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