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Maurice Francis Richard ShadboltCBE (4 June 1932 – 10 October 2004) was a New Zealand writer[1][2] and occasional playwright.[1][3]
Shadbolt was born inAuckland, and was the eldest of three children. He had a younger brother and sister, Peter and Julia. Shadbolt was educated at Te Kuiti High School,Avondale College andAuckland University College. Shadbolt began writing for localWest Auckland community newspapers.[4] In the 1960s, he moved toTitirangi with his family, buying a house that overlookedLittle Muddy Creek, where he spent the next 42 years writing.[4]
In total, Shadbolt wrote 11 novels, four collections of short stories, two autobiographies, a war history, and a volume of journalism, as well as plays.[2] He won theKatherine Mansfield Memorial Award for a short story three times: in 1963, 1967 and 1995.[5] His first collection of short stories,The New Zealanders, was published in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. His most famous book is probablySeason of the Jew (1987), which recounts the story ofTe Kooti.
In the1989 New Year Honours, Shadbolt was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature.[6]
Shadbolt suffered from what was thought to beAlzheimer's disease, which during his autopsy was found to beLewy body dementia.[citation needed] He died on 10 October 2004 in a Taumarunui rest home, surrounded by his children.[2] Shadbolt had five children: Sean, Brendan and twins Tui and Daniel from his first marriage to journalist and author Gillian Heming, and Brigid from his second marriage to television presenter Barbara Magner. Shadbolt was also married to actressBridget Armstrong. His cousinTim Shadbolt wasMayor of Invercargill for nearly 20 years until 2022.
His works were often published in the UK and United States as well as in New Zealand, sometimes in different years. Dates are for the first appearance.
