William Taylor (writer) explained

William Robin Taylor (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.

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)

Notes and References

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