A 545-page book about Sir Tim Shadbolt's final years is being launched in Invercargill this Saturday — in the city he spent decades putting on the map.
'Shadbolt: Tim's Final Chapter' arrives at the Invercargill Central Library on 50 Dee Street at 1pm on Saturday October 10, and it's open to the public. Which feels right. Shadbolt was always most at home in a crowd.
The book covers the period from 2013 through to his civic funeral in January this year — the years that prompted the question author Margaret Evans set out to answer: what happened to Tim?
Evans, a former Hamilton mayor and journalist, describes her approach as "putting together the pieces of the jigsaw." The result pulls together Sir Tim's own writings alongside official reports and news accounts, building context around a period that was, by any reading, complicated. At 545 pages, it does not skip the hard parts.
The cover alone makes a statement. Dee Copeland's portrait — titled 'Seriously Tim' — places the "deeply thoughtful character" front and centre, behind that famous grin rather than hidden by it. Inside, a curated selection of photographs tracks the times as much as the man.
Copeland herself will be at the launch as a special guest, and Evans says she will reveal how she finally managed to get that serious expression out of a man not exactly known for them.
Evans describes the book as a "should read" for mayors, people interested in council affairs, reform, and politics generally — and for all others "who just loved this one-of-a-kind leader."
That last group, in Invercargill, is not a small constituency.
Pre-orders for the first edition are available through the publisher at toti.co.nz at $40 plus postage, or through thebestlittlebookstore.nz. If you'd rather pick it up in person and hear the portrait story straight from the artist, Saturday's launch is the place to be.