Jack Lasenby
I want to live among people who believe in truth and freedom...
I want to discuss ideas... I want books...
Where to find it
- Wheelchair accessible
About the author
Jack Lasenby was one of New Zealand’s best loved storytellers and children’s writers. His work is imbued with a love of his country and a deep sense of what it is to be a New Zealander.
He was born in Waharoa in the Waikato, a small town which is the setting for many stories based on events in his childhood. He had a varied career as a deer culler and possum hunter, teacher, editor of the School Journal and lecturer at Wellington Teachers’ Training College before starting to write full time in 1987.
Lasenby’s books cover a wide range of genres, from adventure stories set in the past, present and future to tall tales and fantasy. Some of his unforgettable characters include yarn-spinning Uncle Trev, indomitable Aunt Effie, and Harry Wakatipu the talking horse.
Jack once commented about his sculpture: ‘I spent much of my life teaching people to read from left to right, but they’ll now need to read from bottom to top.’
