The Team That Hit The Rocks, Evolving, and Foraging New Zealand. Photos / supplied
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1. The Team That Hit the Rocks by Peter Jerram (David Bateman)
In April 1968, the interisland passenger ferry Wahine hit Barrett Reef at the entrance to Wellington Harbour in a cyclone, the worst storm recorded in New Zealand’s history. Among the 610 passengers and 125 crew was the Lincoln College cricket team with one Peter Jerram among its number. Some 53 people lost their lives and while the cricket team all survived, the disaster had a huge impact on them.
Initially, they didn’t discuss their experiences, but over the years that has changed. Drawing on the written and oral testimony of his teammates, crew and rescuers, Jerram tells their stories, and examines what led to the disaster and loss of life, finding serious fault with the Court of Inquiry into the tragedy.
The Listener said that there have, of course, been other books and documentaries about the catastrophe but few, if any, that have captured the catharsis of the event so directly and with undemonstrative emotion. “These are remarkable stories; enduring but unvarnished personal accounts of what it means to confront death … [it’s] an intensely felt exploration of tragedy and survival.”
2. Evolving by Judy Bailey (HarperCollins)
In which the person who presented our TV news from 1986 to 2005 (“I just fell into it”) offers an “inspiring and personal guide to ageing well and with happiness”. It covers older health, fitness (she does Pilates), finances and embracing joy, as well as the inevitable losses and griefs of a life. Bailey says being in your 70s today is a world away from what it used to be. “We’re out there doing things and we’ve got a lot to contribute,” she told the Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
3. Foraging New Zealand by Peter Langlands (Penguin)
Kiwis love the idea of foraging our forests and fields and riverbanks for edible wild plants, and in current times there’s probably an economic element as well. Liv Sisson’s Fungi of Aotearoa sold pallet-loads when it came out last year, and we can expect Peter Langlands’ book, from the same publisher, to do the same. Langlands is perhaps the country’s only professional forager, collecting wild flora for restaurants and running workshops. It’s a chunky guide, 500 pages, that picks out 250 plants and fungi from about 7500 edible species. The book warns of stuff not to touch, and plants that look like others but are verboten. The range is impressive. You may know you can eat samphire and wild chervil but be surprised that you can scarf parts of rengarenga, pōhutukawa stamens, wandering willie.
4. Dame Suzy D by Susan Devoy (Allen & Unwin)