Dennis McEldowney plaque on the Dunedin Writers' Walk

Richard Dennis McEldowney (29 January 1926 – 23 September 2003) was a New Zealand author and publisher. His best known work was ''The World Regained.'' Auto-biographical in nature, it described how he dealt with being an invalid due to having a

Tetralogy of Fallot Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), formerly known as Steno-Fallot tetralogy, is a congenital heart defect characterized by four specific cardiac defects. Classically, the four defects are: *pulmonary stenosis, which is narrowing of the exit from the ri ...

. This book won McEldowney the 1958 Hubert Church Memorial Prize.

Early life

McEldowney was born on 29 January 1926 in

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

, and grew up in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. He was born with a congenital heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot. Owing to this heart condition, McEldowney was an invalid until the age of 24. In 1950, he was operated on at Green Lane Hospital in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Education and career

Because of his medical condition, McEldowney was educated through a correspondence school. Eventually he took a clerical job at the School of Physical Education at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. In 1966, he became the first editor of

Auckland University Press Auckland University Press is a New Zealand publisher that produces creative and scholarly work for a general audience. Founded in 1966 and formally recognised as Auckland University Press in 1972, it is an independent publisher based within The ...

and remained there until his retirement in 1986. Also in 1986, he was conferred an honorary

LittD Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

by the University of Auckland. McEldowney died in Auckland in 2003. He is recognised with a plaque on the Dunedin Writers' Walk.

Books

* ''The World Regained'' (1957

* ''Donald Anderson: a Memoir'' (1966) * ''Arguing With My Grandmother'' (1973) * ''Frank Sargeson in His Time'' (1976) * ''Full of the Warm South'' (1983

* ''Shaking the Bee Tree'' (1992

- describes his marriage to Zoë Greenhough (1912-1990), who was also a " Blue baby syndrome, blue baby" * ''Then and There'': a 1970s diary (1995

* ''A Press Achieved'' : the emergence of Auckland University Press, 1927–1972, with a brief epilogue to 1986 and a list of Auckland University College, University of Auckland, and Auckland University Press publications (200

Articles

* "Publishing, Patronage, Literary Magazines", in: Terry Sturm, ed., ''The Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English'', Oxford University Press, 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McEldowney, Dennis New Zealand publishers (people) University of Auckland alumni 1926 births 2003 deaths 20th-century New Zealand writers 20th-century New Zealand male writers