On Sunday 26 August at 1pm on the Picton Foreshore the people of Marlborough will be welcoming home Joseph Sullivan, 2012 Olympic gold medallist.  It takes dedication and commitment to achieve at such a high level.  

   On Picton Harbour we also see young sailors in their small yachts like optimists and lasers competing with the hope of future success.  Congratulations also to Declan and Taylor Burn and other young sailors from the Queen Charlotte Yacht Club. With its lovely natural harbour and easy access to the Marlborough Sounds it's not surprising that champions like this are produced.

   It’s also good to hear from the Prime Minister, John Key, that our troops could be out of Afghanistan by April 2013. They have done a good job helping with the reconstruction in Bamiyan Province but now it appears New Zealanders may be being targeted in the war zone. The latest three deaths were on Sunday 20 August (NZ time), and included a woman NZ soldier. They were travelling in a Humvee, the last in a convoy of four transporting another soldier to hospital. The three were killed instantly by a roadside bomb. This brings to ten the number of NZ soldiers killed in Afghanistan to date.

   What’s this about New Zealanders not reading NZ fiction? (Sunday Star Times, 20 August, Arts Focus A 13). In my opinion they are reading it. Look at all the Book Clubs around the country and the Writers and Readers Festivals. What I think is more likely is that people are getting NZ fiction out of their local library (along with novels by overseas authors), and buying non-fiction so the publishers respond accordingly. Library issues of fiction are much greater than for non-fiction according to statistics from my local library.

   Congratulations to Craig Potton publishers for winning the 2012 NZ Book of the Year award in the NZ Post Book Awards.  New Zealand’s Native Trees is a beautiful book and the photography is outstanding. Did you know that kohekohe mentioned in a recent Marlborough Express article about a planned 1080 drop at Ship Cove is also called NZ mahogany and in the South Island is restricted to the Marlborough Sounds and Golden Bay?