Eighty Year Old Writer and Stroke Survivor Honoured at Storylines Festival

Debut children’s author and Remuera resident Janette D. Moleta did not expect to be waking up in a hospital bed on the day of her book launch.

The 80-year-old former primary school teacher, farmer’s wife and mother of six was looking forward to launching her first collection of short stories Tales of Old Shaky, illustrated by Christine Hannah Grace, at Storylines Festival’s Auckland Family Day. However, a severe stroke which caused paralysis on her right side, meant that Janette D. Moleta couldn’t attend her own book launch.

Instead, Auckland-based independent publisher Jill Marshall and illustrator Christine Hannah Grace paid tribute to Janette D. Moleta’s writing and officially launched Tales of Old Shaky. Both talked about Janette’s love of flowers, animals and birds; all of which feature strongly in her charming collection of children’s stories.

Jill Marshall said that it was a “poignant moment to be launching Tales of Old Shaky without Janette. The whole team at Jill Marshall Publishing are devastated by what’s happened, and we all want Shaky to garner the great success it deserves and to make Janette proud. She’s a delightful, charming lady, and our hearts are all with her”, said Jill Marshall.

Tales of Old Shaky is a compilation of 10 classic New Zealand stories, beautifully illustrated by Christine Hannah Grace with simple watercolours to appeal to old and young alike. The title comes from a name given to New Zealand because of its frequent seismic activity, aka the ‘Shaky Isles’, and is published under the Pear Jam imprint of Jill Marshall Publishing.