James mcneish biography

Biography.
Sir James McNeish was a well-known novelist, biographer and playwright.
Sir James Henry Peter McNeish KNZM was a New Zealand novelist, playwright and biographer.

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Academy of New Zealand Literature

Bernard Brown – distinguished poet, law professor and New Zealand Society of Authors luminary – corresponded frequently with Sir James McNeish over thirty years. Bernard is currently writing the epilogue to Breaking the Ranks, Sir James’ final book, that will be published next April. Following is Bernard’s eulogy for Sir James. It was recorded by Miranda James in Auckland and played at Sir James’ memorial at Old St Paul’s in Wellington on 24 November 2016.

The last time I talked with James it was about courage – a commodity with which he was amply endowed. He was speaking of Brigadier General Reg Miles, one of his triumvirate in Breaking Ranks.

James asked, ‘what is it like being under fire? How does one cope?’

It had happened to Miles scores of times, to me only once in a Malayan jungle. Reg plainly was very brave morally and physically.

‘Well,’ I answered, ‘I was a coward. If I had been wearing a white shirt and not a khaki one I would have waved it to the enemy. Trouble was, I wasn’t sure who was the enemy

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Touchstones: A Memoir

James McNeish, novelist, playwright and biographer, lives in New Zealand. He is the author of over 25 books and plays, and his work has received acclaim both in New Zealand and internationally. In the 1960s he worked in London’s Theatre Workshop, known for its socially committed drama, wrote and presented feature and documentary programmes for BBC Radio, and wrote for The Guardian and The Observer. As critic Denis Welsh has observed, the ‘themes close to the writer’s heart [are] the nature of justice, the quest for truth, race relations, prison rehabilitation, and the reliability of memory’. In 2010 he received the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Non-Fiction. He was knighted for services to literature in 2011. The New Zealand Listener noted that McNeish’s standing is ‘perhaps unique among New Zealand writers in the facility with which he has moved back and forth between fiction and non-fiction’, while The New Zealand Herald has identified him as ‘A major figure in New Zealand literature . . . His writing is masterful, his

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James McNeish

New Zealand writer

Sir James McNeish KNZM

Born	James Henry Peter McNeish (1931-10-23)23 October 1931 Auckland, New Zealand
Died	11 November 2016(2016-11-11) (aged 85) Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation	Novelist, biographer and playwright
Language	English
Nationality	New Zealand
Education	Auckland Grammar School
Alma mater	Auckland University College
Spouse	Felicity Ann Wily (m. 1960; div. 1964) ^[1] Helen Schnitzer (m. 1968) ^[1]
Children	two

Sir James Henry Peter McNeishKNZM (23 October 1931 – 11 November 2016) was a New Zealand novelist, playwright and biographer.

Biography

McNeish attended Auckland Grammar School and graduated from Auckland University College with a degree in languages. He travelled the world as a young man, working as a deckhand on a Norwegian freighter in 1958, and recording folk music in 21 countries. He worked in the Theatre Workshop in London with Joan Lit