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North & South
January 2004
Publication Date December 8, 2003
Those Who Made a Difference
New
Zealanders from all walks of life who stood tall and with grit,
determination, innovation and energy made their mark
Lynley Hood
Controversial writer. Although it was published two
years ago A City Possessed, Lynley
Hood's meticulously researched and argued book of investigative journalism
about the Christchurch Civic Creche/Peter Ellis child abuse case, continued
to make waves in 2003 when National MPs Katherine Rich and (soon to be
National leader) Dr Don Brash got up a petition of prominent New Zealanders
calling for a commission of inquiry into the case.
Minister of Justice Phil Goff reluctantly referred the petition to a
parliamentary select committee and Hood is busily writing submissions she
will make to the committee. She's relieved that in the two years since
publication there hasn't been as much as a lawyer's letter threatening defamation
against her, "proof, surely, that I got it right". "Getting A City Possessed published had become
the be-all and end-all of my life," she says. "I couldn't have
lived happily in my old age had I not got it published."
During 2003 Hood was awarded a doctorate by the University of Otago,
"a real doctorate not an honorary one, made on the strength of my
books". She next plans to begin work on a new book. "I'm not saying
what it's about other than that it's another controversial issue."
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