William Robin Taylor ONZM (11 October 1938 – 3 October 2015) was a New Zealand writer.

Biography

Taylor was born in Lower Hutt. Before he began writing in the 1980s, Taylor worked as a primary school principal and served as mayor of Ohakune from 1981 to 1988,[1] before moving to Raurimu. He won the Choysa Bursary in 1986, and turned his attention to writing full-time that year. Taylor's last book was published in 2010, the memoir Telling Tales: A Life in Writing.[2]

Taylor died in 2015 at Taumarunui.[2] His funeral was held on 8 October 2015, three days before he was to turn 77.[3]

Honours and awards

Over the course of his career, Taylor won the Esther Glen Award (1991), an AIM Children's Book Award (1995), a Margaret Mahy Medal (1999), and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award (2000).

In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Taylor was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to children's literature and the community.[4]

Works

Adult fiction

  • Episode (1970)
  • The Mask of the Clown (1970)
  • The Plekhov Place (1971)
  • Pieces in a Jigsaw (1972)
  • The Persimmon Tree (1972)
  • The Chrysalis (1974)

Non-fiction

  • Burnt Carrots Don't Have Legs (1976)
  • Telling Tales a Life in Writing (2010)

Young Adult fiction

  • Pack Up, Pick Up And Off (1981)
  • Shooting Though (1986)
  • My Summer Of The Lions (1986)
  • Possum Perkins (1987), printed in the US as Paradise Lane (1987)
  • The Worst Soccer Team Ever (1987)
  • Break A Leg (1987)
  • Making Big Bucks (1987)
  • I Hate My Brother Maxwell Potter (1989)
  • Kidnap of Jessie Parker (1989)
  • Agnes The Sheep (1990)
  • The Porter Brothers (1990)
  • Knitwits (1992)
  • Supermum And Spike The Dog (1992)
  • Fast Times At Greenhill High (1992)
  • Beth And Bruno (1992)
  • S.W.A.T. The Southside War Against Terrorists (1993)
  • The Blue Lawn (1994)
  • Numbskulls (1995
  • The Fatz Katz (1995)
  • Annie and Co. And Marilyn Munroe (1995)
  • The Fatz Twins And The Haunted House (1996)
  • Nick's Story (1996)
  • Circles (1996)
  • Hark The Herald Angel (1997)
  • The Fatz Twins And The Cuckoo In The Nest (1997)
  • At Then Big Red Rooster (1998)
  • Harry Houdini-Wonderdog! (1999)
  • Jerome (1999)
  • Hotmail (2000)
  • Crash! The Story Of Poddy (2000)
  • Scarface and the Angel (2000)
  • Spider: A Novel (2001)
  • Pebble in a Pool (2003)
  • Land of Milk and Honey (2005)
  • Gladys the Goat (2005)
  • Albert the Cat (2005)

References

  1. ↑ "William Taylor profile". New Zealand Book Council. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Children's author William Taylor dies in Taumarunui". Stuff.co.nz. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  3. ↑ Thomas, Rachel (8 October 2015). "Author and former Ohakune Mayor William Taylor farewelled". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2004". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 7 June 2004. Retrieved 30 May 2020.


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