Thursday, June 30, 2016

The Snow Farmer - John Lee of the Cardrona Valley


The Snow Farmer
John Lee of the Cardrona Valley
Sally Rae
Photographs by Stephen Jaquiery
Published by Random House NZ; July 1, 2016; RRP: $50

“John’s story is one to inspire others. It’s a story of a man with a vision, and the strength of personality and the strong relationships with others to make it happen. It’s a Kiwi story of
grit and determination of which we can all be proud.” –
Helen Clark, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand (1999-2008).

John Lee has always been a law unto himself. Entrepreneurial, inventive, determined, he
hailed from a farming background in the Cardrona Valley; the third of five boys. Schooled
in Oamaru, the young John Lee was no fan of the classroom – he was good at maths, but
struggled with words– preferring to spend his time dreaming about the day he would farm
in his beloved Cardrona Valley.

What grew from John Lee’s humble childhood dream is an extraordinary, pioneering New
Zealand enterprise. The story behind Lee’s passion and vision for turning a remote Central
Otago valley into a thriving settlement and tourist destination, is inimitably Kiwi in its audacity,scope and can-do spirit.

The Snow Farmer tells the rollicking adventure story that is John Lee’s life. A visionary
par excellence, Lee’s mantra has always been to build it first, answer questions later. Farming in the Cardrona Valley, Lee saw families moving out of the valley, threatening the viability of the school bus. His answer? An opportunity to enliven the valley by developing a commercial ski field, ignoring geography and bureaucracy to make it happen. His enthusiasm for the project and ability to inspire others, brought people and money to the table, enabling Lee to breathe new life into the valley and rescue it back from the brink.

The Cardrona Valley of today is world-class tourist destination for Olympic skiers, international and domestic adventure travellers. Having also saved the iconic Cardrona Hotel from dereliction, preserving it until a suitable purchaser could be found, he turned his energy into the Snow Farm cross-country ski area. From here, he created an opportunity
for the Pisa Range to be developed as a cold product testing ground. With his intrepid and supportive wife Mary, this entrepreneurial visionary opened his slice of the Pisa Range to international tyre and car developers with ice tracks and snow roads for development and safety testing of motor vehicles; the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere. More recently, with son Sam, they developed the world’s first dedicated terrain park resort.

John Lee was honoured this year with a CNZM (Companion of the New Zealand Order of
Merit) for his services to business and tourism. His story is one of a quiet achiever, a humble man who flies under the radar but who has brought adventure tourism to so many.

 
The Snow Farmer is a stand-out book about a Kiwi legend. Written by esteemed
journalist Sally Rae, the book is complemented by Stephen Jaquiery’s stunning photographs.

 Footnote:
John and Mary Lee will be talking to Kim Hill this Saturday morning and look for an
interview with John in The Listener. Author Sally Rae is attending the launch in Cardrona
tomorrow night and The Bookman hopes to have a report on the event. 
 

 

Advanced Fiction Course – journey to publication

Advanced Fiction Course – journey to publication


We still have places on our Advanced Fiction Course starting in a month’s time. This a rare line-up of NZ’s leading editors and some highly successful new authors...

This is a one-off new course offered to graduates of our Thirty Week Fiction courses, those with a Masters of Creative Writing, or those who have published a book of fiction.

It will run from 2nd August to 26th October 2016. It will feature workshops on manuscript development by some of NZ’s leading fiction editors, plus sessions by successfully published writers who are graduates of our Thirty Week Fiction Courses and its predecessor. In addition, student work will be discussed on a weekly rotational basis, using feedback from the group in sessions chaired by Hub director John Cranna. We will also be covering scholarships, mentoring and bursaries available to start out writers.

Start Date: Tuesday August 2nd 2016, 6-9pm
Course Length: 12 weeks, weekly on Tuesday nights



                                                 

                                                

                                                   

                                                  


Workshops


Geoff Walker – Former publishing director, Penguin Books "Working with fiction writers to bring their work to print" (Two workshops)

Harriet Allan –  Current Fiction publisher, Penguin Random House "Publishing fiction in New Zealand in 2016, and Penguin / Random House’s role in the books scene."

Fiona Sussman – novelist: "Moving from a creative writing course to international publication."

Ann Glamuzina – novelist: "“Writing a best-seller, and the role of a publishing collective of like-minded people in helping bring that about."

Rosetta Allan – novelist: "My journey as a writer to successful publication by Penguin Books."

Mark Broatch – Books and Arts Editor, NZ Listener: "The way the media works, and how to get yourself noticed by books editors and other journalists."

Jackie Dennis – CEO, New Zealand Society of Authors: "How the NZ Society of Authors helps develop and support emerging writing talent."
 
Find out more about this course, and enrol HERE

Antiquarian Book News


Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers

On July 12, Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers will be offering for sale the collection of signed and limited Modern First editions assembled by Dr. Philip Murray. The sale will be at the Gresham Hotel, O'Connell Street, Dublin.

Ever since Philip Murray’s earliest years in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, he has been an avid reader and collector of books. Starting with the Dandy and Beano comics, he progressed easily to more serious literature, aided by the discovery when a student in Dublin and later Galway of the great variety of second-hand bookshops to be found in both cities. While working in Australia he became a serious collector and also discovered the works of novelist Patrick White.

Murray’s main interest has always been twentieth-century literary fiction and poetry, and over many years he has built up an impressive range of books by some of Ireland’s most significant poets and novelists, as well as the best of British, American (North and South) and European authors.

In addition to frequenting second-hand bookshops wherever he went, Murray has always made full use of specialist catalogues. Through attending book readings and literary festivals, he met and befriended many authors. The London book dealer and publisher Bernard Stone of the Turret Press became a special friend.

Murray specialised in collecting signed copies of first editions. When in 1980 Sean Golden and Peter Fallon published an anthology of the work of thirty-six living Irish writers under the title Soft Day, Murray set out to get his copy signed by all the contributors.

In his memoir Adventures of a Book Collector, published in 2011 by Currach Press, Murray writes with the zeal of a true devotee of the thrill of the chase, the delights of reading, and the many adventures and friendships his passion has brought him.

Murray has now retired after many years as a general practitioner in Sligo, and the advent of internet buying has taken away much of the pleasure of book-hunting. Accordingly, he has decided to part with his very personal collection, assembled over half a century and more. It includes about 2,200 American and British first editions, of which about 75% are either signed or inscribed, and the works of many prominent Irish writers, besides some five hundred letters.

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Wordsworth's Prayer Book Stolen

A valuable prayer book that once belonged to William Wordsworth has been stolen from a Lake District church. The book was taken from a display cabinet in St Oswald's Parish Church, Grasmere, last week. The prayer book, which dates from 1835, was removed from the cabinet after the glass was smashed, and then taken from the church premises. Police have now alerted antique & book dealers around the country to look out for it.

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Thomson, Roddick & Medcalf

Thursday 14 July at 12 noon
Antiquarian & Collectable Books etc.
Coleridge House, Shaddongate, Carlisle CA2 5TU


To include James Bruce's copy of Maria Riddell, Voyages to the Madeira & Leeward Caribbean Isles, 1792; Collection of the works of Abel Chapman; 3 works from the Lowther Castle library; a very extensive collection of good modern academic, art & cultural reference books from the estate of a Belfast gentleman; American War of Independence manuscript account books; private press & limited editions; antiquarian works; Cumbria & the Lake District; bookshop stock & general books etc.

Catalogues on request or at www.thomsonroddick.com.
On view: Wednesday 13 July, 10am to 5pm & sale day from 9am. Enquiries: 01228 528939

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Cambridge University Library

Cambridge University Library's 600th exhibition, 'Lines of Thought', is currently displaying papyrus
 fragments of lines from Homer's Odyssey believed to date from about the second century AD.

The team from Cambridge University Library will be in the Make and Create Tent at The Big Weekend
 on Parker's Piece, to explore the mythical stories of ancient Greece. You are invited to make your own
papyrus scroll to take home, and decorate it with your own epic, magical tales. This event is being
generously supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

This a free, drop-in event for children. Visit The Big Weekend website for more information. Saturday, 9 July, 2016 at 12:00-17:00

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The Book of Mormon

A first edition of The Book of Mormon printed in upstate New York and linked to Joseph Smith's establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sold at auction for more than $50,000. Swann Auction Galleries says the rare 1830 edition was sold on Tuesday for $52,500.

The buyer’s name was not released. The item had an estimated pre-sale price of $40,000 to $60,000. The auction house says the first edition of the scripture of the LDS church was released just days before the church’s official establishment in early April 1830.
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Ibookcollector © is published by Rivendale Press

AWF Festival podcasts and videos go live

Featured in our June round-up... our Festival podcasts and videos go live, we announce an afternoon with Andy Griffiths, and we have plenty of announcements and giveaways from our festival friends.

RELIVE THE FESTIVAL VIA PODCAST & VIDEO

Want to revisit your favourite sessions? Missed out on seeing a favourite writer?

We have a selection of podcasts and videos now live on our site, including our hilarious New Zealand Listener Gala Night True Stories Told Live, the highly topical The University of Auckland Festival Forum: The Border Debate or the inspiring Gloria Steinem event. There is something for everyone and we will be uploading more over coming weeks. 

Visit our Look & Listen page proudly powered by Spark and relive the magic of the 2016 Festival.

Latest News from The Bookseller


Penguin Random House UK is vacating both its Transworld office in Ealing and its office in the Strand by 2020, it has announced.
The Bookseller Marketing & Publicity Conference
The importance of building partnerships and collaborating was the main theme of yesterday’s Marketing and Publicity conference hosted by The Bookseller, with delegates also urged to "get out of old habits and into the new spaces where readers are".
Ed Vaizey
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has said “the arts can bring us together” as a nation following the “uncertainty and division” caused by the EU Referendum.
Chris McCrudden
Publishers need to work harder at creating the need for books as a product, rather than focusing on their brands, delegates to The Bookseller’s Marketing and Publicity Conference have heard.
Joe Wicks
Joe “The Body Coach” Wicks’ second title Lean in 15: The Shape Plan (Bluebird) has scored a second consecutive week in the Official UK Top 50 number one spot, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market.
Pearson
Pearson’s chief executive John Fallon has said the company “fully respects” the outcome of the EU referendum despite its own view the UK would have been "better off" inside the EU.
 
 
Michael Gove
Biteback Publishing has confirmed an upcoming biography of Michael Gove has been cancelled.
HarperCollins
HarperCollins has been named a finalist in the Business in the Community’s Race Equality Awards for its work increasing black, Asian and minority ethnic representation in the workplace. 
Jo Johnson
Universities and Science minister Jo Johnson has moved to calm fears about the impact of Brexit on the higher education sector by saying there will be no immediate changes for European students studying in the UK.
Piatkus
Piatkus has acquired a new saga by Kay Brellend set in 1913 North London.
Deon Meyer
CPNG, a Netherlands-based organisation that promotes Dutch literature, will next year give away free copies of a new novel by crime writer Deon Meyer.
page flip
Amazon has introduced a new tool for Kindles which will allow readers to flip back and forth between pages easily.












Northern European bookshop chain
Pocket Shop is to open its first UK
branch in Birmingham Airport this July.