Sir Terence Power McLean (15 July 1913 – 11 July 2004), often known simply by his initials as T. P. McLean, was a New Zealand sports journalist and author specialising in

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

Early life and family

McLean was born 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. Whang ...

and died 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 ...

. He was educated at

New Plymouth Boys' High School New Plymouth Boys' High School is a single-sex boys' state secondary school in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The school currently caters for approximately 1300 students, including 210 boarders, on its site. The school often collabora ...

. He married Margaret Coyle in 1940; they had one son and two daughters. He came from a rugby family, and several other McLeans were notable in the New Zealand rugby union, including Hubert McLean who was an

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

in the 1930s. His father and four uncles played for Wanganui, and his brothers Gordon (Taranaki) and Bob (Wellington) played at the provincial level.

Career

McLean commenced as a journalist on the ''

Auckland Sun Two newspapers published in Auckland, New Zealand, have been called ''The Sun'' or ''The Auckland Sun''. The first ''Sun'' was started on 23 March 1927 by Edward Chalmers Huie, who already ran the ''Christchurch Sun''. It operated in competition ...

'' in 1930, subsequently working on the ''

Hastings Tribune The ''Hastings Tribune'' is a newspaper published in Hastings, Nebraska. The newspaper is put out six days a week, excluding Sundays. It serves ten counties in south central Nebraska and north central Kansas.Taranaki Daily News The ''Taranaki Daily News'' is a daily morning newspaper published in New Plymouth, New Zealand. History The paper was founded as the ''Taranaki News'' on 14 May 1857, by friends of former Taranaki Province Superintendent Charles Brown.J.S. Tu ...

,'' and '' Evening Post'' (Wellington). After service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he joined the ''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' in

as sports editor in 1946. For the next 30 years, McLean accompanied most All Black teams overseas and visiting sides in New Zealand, writing a series of tour books and other books on rugby, 32 in total. He retired from the ''Herald'' in 1978.

Honours and awards

In the 1978 Queen's Birthday Honours, McLean was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for services to sporting journalism. In the

New Year Honours 1997 The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, McLean was appointed a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, also for services to sporting journalism. He was inducted into the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF acc ...

in 2007.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Terry 1913 births 2004 deaths New Zealand sportswriters Rugby union people in New Zealand People educated at New Plymouth Boys' High School New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit People from Whanganui 20th-century New Zealand journalists Rugby historians and writers Rugby players and officials awarded knighthoods New Zealand military personnel of World War II