To the Gateways of Florence: Auckland launch, hosted by Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse

To the Gateways of Florence

Auckland launch hosted by Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse

8 September 2011

Penny Hulse, deputy mayor of Auckland, welcomed a crowd to the Council Chambers in the Auckland Town Hall on 8 September for a memorable evening to launch To the Gateways of Florence: New Zealand Forces in Tuscany, 1944. 

A strong representation of city councillors, veterans groups (including a large contingent from the 28th Maori Battalion Association) and guests welcomed the visiting Italian delegation led by the book's editor, Florence provincial councillor Stefano Fusi, and Sestilio Dirindelli, mayor of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa. Also in attendance were Donato Scioscoli of the Italian Embassy in Wellington; Mario Magaraggia, Honorary Consul of Italy in Auckland; and Sandra Fresia, President of the Società Dante Alighieri di Auckland. 

Deputy Mayor Hulse applauded the book's publication and paid tribute to the sacrifices of New Zealanders and Italians during the war. 

The guests were welcomed by a moving mihi from kaumatua Fred Holloway, who also led the blessing of the book with Auckland Council tikanga advisor, Bobby Newsom. Ted Lee, president of the Auckland Italy Star Association, Sestilio Dirindelli, Stefano Fusi and publisher Peter Dowling also offered their thoughts and appreciation for the book's reception in New Zealand. 

Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse with To the Gateways of Florence

Stefano Fusi (left) and Sestilio Direndelli are welcomed by kaumatua Fred Holloway (Te Kawerau a Maki)   

Penny Hulse (left) with Sestilio Dirindelli and his wife Gianna Fusi; in background Graham Wiremu

Italian Campaign veterans John Johnson (left) and Les Andrews

Les Andrews reserves rapturous applause after showing, with his rendition of Torna a Surriento, he has lost none of the gifts that took him into the Kiwi Concert Party in Italy

Council tikanga advisor Bobby Newsom with kaumatua Fred Holloway bless the book 

From left; Stefano, Annette Fasher-Dow, Sestilio, Jill Gabriel (the book's translator)

From left: Mario Magaraggia, Sestilio Dirindelli, Donato Scioscioli, Stefano Fusi, publisher Alessandra Zecchini, Sandra Fresia

Launching To the Gateways of Florence in Christchurch

Military historian Jeffrey Plowman (who contributed the chapter 'Tiger Country' to the book) with Christchurch City Councillor Barry Corbett

The launch was a reunion for veterans and family, including Lady Fiona Elworth (at right)

Sestilio Dirindelli (right), Mayor of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, addresses the crowd in Italian with Valerie Mayer of the Societa Dante Alighieri di Christchurch interpreting

The book's editor and Florence Provincial Councillor Stefano Fusi addresses the audience as Barry Corbett and UBS Canterbury host Quentin Wilson look on

Signing To the Gateways of Florence

UBS Canterbury was a great host for the launch

Photos by David Baird ©

Beattie's Book Blog reports on To The Gateways of Florence

From 21 July to 4 August 1944, New Zealand soldiers were at the front line as Allied forces pushed forward across the heartland of Tuscany ...

Read the rest on the: Beattie's Book Blog - unofficial homepage of the New Zealand book community: TO THE GATEWAYS OF FLORENCE

To the Gateways of Florence book launch at Te Papa, Wellington 26 August 2011

From left: Donato Scioscioli, First Secretary of the Italian Embassy in Wellington, the book's editor Stefano Fusi, Florence Provincial Councillor, and Sestilio Dirindelli, Mayor of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa

Military historian Chris Pugsley (left) with Italian Campaign veteran George Jones

George Jones and family with Sestilio and Stefano

At the signing table, from left Donato Scioscioli, Stefano Fusi and Peter Dowling

Members of Jill Gabriel's Wellington family join Jill, Stefano, Sestilio, Gianna and guests

To the Gateways of Florence New Zealand Forces in Tuscany, 1944

M E D I A    R E L E A S E

24 August 2011

To the Gateways of Florence

New Zealand Forces in Tuscany, 1944

Edited by Stefano Fusi

For 50 years after the end of the Second World War, most people in the Chianti region between Florence and Siena did not know that New Zealand forces had been the ones to liberate them from Nazi German occupation in the summer of 1944.

It took research by Stefano Fusi, then mayor of Tavarnelle (near Florence), and his New Zealand wife Jill Gabriel, to affirm that the liberators had been not Americans but soldiers of the 2^nd New Zealand Division, many of whom never made it home.

Now those sacrifices, and the bonds they forged between New Zealand and Italy, are being celebrated in a new book – To the Gateways of Florence: New Zealand Forces in Tuscany 1944.

Launched at functions in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland over the next fortnight, To the Gateways of Florence remembers the men of the 28^th Maori Battalion and 21^st Infantry Divisions who showed immense tenacity in battle, and compassion to the Italian people that is warmly remembered to this day.

A delegation composed of Stefano Fusi  (now a Florence Provincial councillor), Jill Gabriel, Sestilio Dirindelli (current mayor of Tavarnelle) and his wife Gianna has come to New Zealand in order to launch the book.

“Sharing our history has helped forge a deep friendship with the New Zealand people who live so far away from Tuscany and from the Chianti area, but to whom, for obvious reasons, we feel so close,” says Fusi.

“Our friendship has strengthened over time and has also been sealed by the decision made by the municipalities of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa and Scandicci to erect two monuments to the fallen New Zealanders.”

Translated from a 2009 Italian book, To the Gateways of Florence enables New Zealanders to read Italian historians analysing New Zealand’s pivotal role in Tuscany, alongside contributions from three of our own leading military historians – Christopher Pugsley, Monty Soutar and Jeffrey Plowman

The testimonies, diaries and letters of the New Zealand soldiers are matched by moving testimonies from the Italian civilians who lived through the battles that decided the war.

One contributor, Franca Ferrantini, recalls singing for New Zealand soldiers at Florence’s Hotel Baglioni: “I send dear thoughts to all those boys from way back then on the other side of the world.”

Publishers Peter Dowling and Alessandra Zecchini committed to translating the work after attending commemorations in the Chianti region on Anzac Day (also Italy’s Liberation Day) in 2010.

“We were overwhelmed by the warm welcome and the efforts that had gone to honouring the New Zealand soldiers,” Dowling recalls.

Zecchini, whose late father fought for the partisans in the mountains to the north of Tuscany, says that the book embodies the close bonds that sprang up between Italians and Kiwis in the course of the Second World War.

A rich selection of photographs and memorabilia from archives in New Zealand and Italy illustrates the work.

To the Gateways of Florence will be launched at the following events:

·      Wellington, 26 August: Te Papa Store

·      Christchurch, 1 September: University Bookshop Canterbury,

·      Auckland, 8 September: Council Chamber, Auckland Town Hall

Release Date:  26 August 2011  | ISBN: 978-1-877514-23-4   | RRP $44.99

276 pages (20 colour), 12 contributors, 200 images

Stefano Fusi is in New Zealand until 10 September.

For an interview, images, launch details or a review copy, contact:

Isabell Zitzelsberger 09 814 8993

Peter Dowling  027 614 8993

Libro International, a division of Oratia Media

www.librointernational.com   |    www.oratiamedia.com

Polynesian Navigation and the Discovery of New Zealand

M E D I A    R E L E A S E

22 August 2011

Polynesian Navigation and

the Discovery of New Zealand

Jeff Evans

The discovery of New Zealand by Polynesian navigators represents the culmination of one of the great waves of world exploration.

Without the modern navigational aids that Europeans used to reach New Zealand centuries later, the navigator Kupe and the many canoes that followed were able to find their way through perilous seas in wooden canoes.

By examining myth, star charts and contemporary Polynesian seafaring, author and photographer Jeff Evans traces the methods by which Polynesian explorers made their epic voyages, supported by maps and illustrations.

Polynesian Navigation and the Discovery of New Zealand also relates the voyage of the canoe Hawaiki-nui – built following traditional methods and navigated without modern instruments – from Tahiti to New Zealand in 1985.

First published in 1998 as The Discovery of Aotearoa, the retitled and corrected book will now be permanently available thanks to digital printing technology.

Release Date:  22 August 2011  | ISBN: 978-1-877514-15-9   | RRP $39.99

For an interview, contact: Jeff Evans, 027 216 1400

For more information or a review copy, contact:

Peter Dowling  027 614 8993 or Isabell Zitzelsberger 09 814 8993

Libro International, a division of Oratia Media

www.librointernational.com   |    www.oratiamedia.com

Māori Maps

MEDIA RELEASE

Auckland/Tāmaki-makaurau

1 August / 1 Heri-turi-kōkā 2011                                                                        7.00 a.m.

For immediate release

New website www.maorimaps.com connects people and marae

Te Potiki National Trust this morning officially launched the Māori Maps website, www.maorimaps.com 

The site dynamically delivers maps, photographs and information about the tribal marae of Te Tai Tokerau/Northland and Tāmaki/Auckland.

It provides a portal to over 170 marae through the North.

www.maorimaps.com is the first stage of a long-term project to revitalise links between marae, descendants and visitors.

Navigating via an interactive map or quick searches, users can easily locate a marae, get directions, see photos from the gateway and access key information.

The site launch represents five years’ work to establish the venture, attract support and research around the North.

Paul Tapsell and Rereata Makiha founded Te Potiki National Trust in 2006 with the aim of reconnecting young urban Māori – the ‘potiki’ generation – to their home communities and elders.

Marae are the beneficiaries of work by the Māori Maps team.

Tapsell, now professor of Māori Studies at the University of Otago, led the research across the North, accompanied by photographer Krzysztof Pfeiffer, kaumātua Renata Tane, and Rereata Makiha.

“Our marae are places where issues have been resolved for generations. They are central to our identity, which is grounded in ancestral landscapes.

“In recent times our potiki – the young generation – have been growing up away from marae, and as our elders die, our rich traditions, dialects and practices are dying with them.

“The Māori Maps team hopes to be the beginning of a solution, providing a pathway to marae that will benefit all New Zealand.

“It seeks to create a sustainable response to a real crisis: reconnection of new generations of Māori to their tribal identity, and sustaining our marae.”

The site fills a need for a portal that allows easy connection to marae at no cost to iwi, hapū or whānau, and will allow them access to store images and records online.

“We are committed to ongoing contact with runanga (tribal boards) and marae to keep the content and website features up to date,” Tapsell said.

Māori Maps has been funded by the Tindall Foundation, FoRST and the ASB Community Trust, with support from the universities of Auckland (James Henare Māori Research Centre, and Business School via Icehouse/SPARK and Otago (Te Tumu School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies), and Chapman Tripp. 

The Māori Maps team is planning its next field research in Bay of Plenty, Otago, Southland and Waikato.

Further features are under development for the site, not least a Te Reo Māori version, iPad and iPhone compatibility, and a layer of mapping of all marae in each runanga and iwi grouping.

– ENDS –  

For an interview, contact:

 Paul Tapsell, Director, 021 279 8677, paora@maorimaps.com

For Te Reo interviews, contact:

Rereata Makiha, 021 190 1379, ral.makiha@paradise.net.nz 

For further information, contact:

Peter Dowling, Kaihautu, 027 614 8993, pita@maorimaps.com

Libro International author Jeff Evans with a request for his charity An Ocean of Books

Dear supporter of An Ocean of Books,

 

Please take the time to read how you can support An Ocean of Books with our work sending library books to needy school libraries in the Pacific.

 

Many of you will know that Fuli and I run a volunteer, Registered Charity collecting books in NZ and sending them up to needy school libraries in the Central Pacific. We work with the Education departments of the various island nations to ensure the books are sent to the most needy schools.

 

 

To help fund our project we have recently teamed up with Buzz The People – an online survey company who pay us for surveys filled out by our registered supporters. Most surveys take around 10 minutes and we get $1 per survey completed. It doesn’t cost you anything other than a small amount of time, and would help us to cover storage costs and various (boring) expenses related to getting the books up to the islands.

 

If you would like to help us to make a difference in the Pacific, please click on the following link and register, and then complete the survey when it is e-mailed to you. Simple as!!

 

http://www.buzzthepeople.co.nz/helpfundraise.aspx?s=CBEB2378                     

 

Every single small action you take can help make a big difference in someone’s life.

 

Kind regards,

Jeff Evans

 

An Ocean of Books.org

Supporting Education in the Pacific

Outrageous Fortune - Back on screen

TV3 will be screening repeats of the hit drama Outrageous Fortune Saturdays at 8.30 p.m., starting from 11 June. Tune in to follow the trials and tribulations of the West family, and buy the book of the show - Outrageous Fortune: The West Family Album  - to get the inside running on Cheryl, Pascalle, Jethro, Van, Loretta, Grandpa, Wayne and all. 

Agricultural Heritage on 'Sounds Historical'

Jim Sullivan's excellent interview with Hugh Stringleman, author of Agricultural Heritage: Auckland Agricultural & Pastoral Association, 1843–2010, aired on Radio New Zealand National's show 'Sounds Historical' on the evening of 5 June. 

Follow this link to listen to the interview:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/soundshistorical/audio/2490677/sounds-historical-part-two-for-5-june-2011.asx

Works with Words

The opening of the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival on 11 May brought together the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, leading New Zealand composers and the words of a selection of New Zealand poets in an innovative concert. 

Among a suite of poems that composer John Elmsly set to music was Basil Dowling's 'Some thought they saw', which was movingly read by narrator Stuart Devenie. 

Basil Dowling: Selected Poems is distributed in New Zealand and Australia by Oratia Media. For more details visit http://www.oratiamedia.com/books.html 

Karekare's legendary Beach Races - 30 April

Karekare was at its autumn best for the 2011 Beach Races today, with some fantastic horse racing along the black sands.

Congratulations to all the volunteers from the Karekare community and Surf Lifesaving Club for their efforts to raise funds for new surf clubrooms and for a kitchen at Lone Kauri School.

Libro International's publication The Iron-Bound Coast: Karekare in the early years was on sale to raise funds for the lifesaving club.

Bob Harvey, the book's editor and former mayor of Waitakere City,

signing copies at the Karekare Beach Races

Copies of the book can also be ordered directly from the club - see their website www.karekaresurfclub.org.nz/ for contact details.

Celebrating our agricultural heritage

What better setting to launch the history of the Auckland Agricultural & Pastoral Association than the ASB Showgrounds, on the eve of the annual Royal Easter Show? 

This was the venue for the 20 April official release of Agricultural Heritage, Hugh Stringleman’s detailed and colourful history of one of the country’s oldest organisations. Founded in 1843, the ‘A&P’ has played a key role in the advancement of scientific farming as an engine of economic growth in Auckland and the nation as a whole.

Hugh wrote the work over three years, with close assistance by the late Graeme Hunt, one of a rare breed of business historians in New Zealand.

Launching the book, the Rt Hon Lockwood Smith, Speaker of the House and himself a keen competitor in the Easter Show, praised the thorough account of the personalities and events that have distinguished the A&P through its 167 years.

Bruce Orr, president of the Auckland Agricultural & Pastoral Association, lauded Hugh Stringleman as New Zealand’s pre-eminent agricultural journalist, and expressed his appreciation for his contribution.

Oratia Media published the book for the Association, and is distributing it nationwide through Publishers Distribution Limited. For orders or more information contact marie@pubdist.co.nz, phone 09 828 2999. 

Click here for a review of Agricultural Heritage on Beattie's Book Blog.

Chris Hoult show opens in Wellington

Chris Hoult is pioneering the handcrafted photographic technique of gum oil printing in New Zealand. His exhibition opens in Wellington tomorrow; here's what Chris has to say about the printing process.

Making gum oil prints

Ironically I discovered the gum oil process through the digital system. When Kodak sold out of the black & white film market I began researching alternative processes, and as luck would have it I bought two books on TradeMe. One was by Karl Koenig, who had developed the gum oil process. The process is long and involved, which probably explains why I am, as far as I know, the only Kiwi doing them and one of only a few worldwide.

First an enlarged black & white positive is made, then a contact print is made using a sheet of watercolour paper that has been precoated the night before in a light-sensitive emulsion. The print is exposed in direct sunlight, washed, and then oil paint is rubbed into the exposed print. After a day the print is washed and then, depending on results, is bleached, etched or in some cases worked with a sable brush to create individual prints.

I love being able to manipulate my prints physically, I love the fact that my contact prints are made in direct sunlight and dry in the wind. I love it that I have no control over those elements and that, combined with the enormous variables involved in the process itself, gives each handcrafted print its own unique beauty.

Chris is also the author of Out West, which Libro's Peter Dowling edited when at Reed Books, and we are working with Chris now on further book projects.