Congratulations to My Grandmother, the Dame!

My Grandmother, Dame Christine Cole Catley, D.N.Z.M, Q.S.M, was recently knighted. (Not a sentence one utters very often.) Until recently, I thought knighting people was a thing of the past, something you read about in fairytales.  But as is often the case with my Grandma, I am constantly learning new things from her, and about her.

She was knighted for her significant contributions to the field of literature in New Zealand. (Naming the Kiwi fruit is one among many of her multifaceted accomplishments, it used to be called the Chinese Gooseberry)! She is a well-known and highly respected teacher of journalism and writing in New Zealand. She writes, edits, and publishes books from her home Devonport. She is a past president of honor of the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc).

She also co-founded Parents Centre New Zealand, which is the primary provider of antenatal Education and childbirth support in New Zealand. They offer support and education for all aspects of parenting. It is one of the largest parenting networks and associated infrastructures to support parents and their children aged 0-6.

“Chris entered publishing as a freelance editor for what was then New Zealand’s pre-eminent publishing firm A H and A W Reed Ltd. She began her own firm in 1973 when she and her husband, engineer Doug Catley, sailed off to the Marlborough Sounds in their yacht Pelagian. She headed New Zealand’s first polytechnic journalism course, been a book and theatre reviewer and the first television critic for The Dominion and the Dominion Sunday Times.”

-   CAPE CATLEY LTD

I am immensely proud of her, and just wanted to take this opportunity to say congratulations to my Grandma!

– Laura Scott

Find out more – bio

Bright Star – Beatrice Hill Tinsley

Bloody Marvellous-George Haydn 1919-2005

Fairburn and Friends