Gordon McLauchlan

Born in Dunedin on 9 January 1931, McLauchlan was educated at Wellington College.^[2] In 1955, he married Beverley Mary Hogan; the couple had three children and later divorced.^[2] He married Beverley Dawn Forbes in 1982.^[2]

After spending a year at Victoria University College, McLauchlan started his journalism career as a reporter on the Manawatu Evening Standard.^[1] He was the NZPA parliamentary reporter from 1952 to 1955, before moving to the Daily Telegraph in Napier.^[2] He was editor of the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture from 1965 to 1971, and the controller of public affairs at Air New Zealand between 1971 and 1973.^[2] In 1973, McLauchlan became a freelance journalist and writer, and from 2000 he was a full-time writer.^[1] He was a columnist for The New Zealand Herald newspaper between 1971 and 1975, and from 1990, and was foundation director and station manager of Radio Pacific.^[2]

As a social historian and cultural critic, McLauchlan wrote many books, including the best-selling The Passionless People, a social history of New Zealand, published in 1976, which spawned a two-part television documentary.^[1] Over 20 other books were to follow, as well as a play, The Last Days of Frank Sargeson. For 10 years, he was also editor-in-chief of the Bateman New Zealand Encyclopaedia, first published in 1984, and revised editions in 1987, 1991, and 1995.^[1]

McLauchlan's writing led to a second career as a media commentator, presenting television and radio programmes. Between 1984 and 1988, he presented Weekend, a magazine programme on TVNZ, and later he was co-presenter of the TV3 news magazine programme, 5.30 Live, from 1993 to 1994.^[2] He made regular appearances on RNZ National's The Panel segment on weekday afternoons.^[1] He was a founding trustee of the Michael King Writers Centre.^[3][4]