Christine Cole Catley

Dame Christine McKelvie Cole Catley DNZM QSM (née Bull, 19 December 1922 – 21 August 2011) was a New Zealand journalist, publisher and author.

Career

Cole Catley was born in 1922 in Wellington, New Zealand. She grew up on a farm in Hunterville, Rangitikei and began writing while still at school, freelancing for the Taranaki Daily News.^[1][2] She won a scholarship to the University of Canterbury and moved to Christchurch, where she also worked as a part-time reporter for The Press newspaper while studying.^[1][2] While in Christchurch, Cole Catley met and became friends with the artist Rita Angus, who painted her and her first child in a portrait entitled Mother and Child in 1945.^[3]

In 1946, Cole Catley moved to Wellington and began writing for the Labour Party's daily paper, The Southern Cross, the New Zealand Listener, and Radio New Zealand. Australia's ABC Network appointed her their New Zealand correspondent, and in 1956 the network sent her on assignment to Indonesia for two years.^[2]

When television came to New Zealand, Cole Catley was the country's first TV reviewer, writing for The Dominion (using the pseudonym "Sam Cree") and for the Sunday Times (under the name "Hillary Court").^[1] She was a member of the Broadcasting Council, but was removed by then Prime Minister Rob Muldoon due to disagreements between them.^[1] In 1967, she became tutor-in-charge of New Zealand's first polytechnic school of journalism.^[1] In this role, she insisted that half of the students accepted into the school must be female, a move which was considered to greatly accelerate the movement of women into the industry.^[4]

Cole Catley's first job in publishing was as an editor for A.H. and A.W. Reed, in Wellington.^[2] In 1973, she and her second husband Doug Catley set up their own publishing house, Cape Catley Press. The imprint specialised in New Zealand works and authors, and published over 100 titles, including notable writers such as Michael King and Archibald Baxter.^[1][5] Cole Catley also ran writing workshops, which led to a number of writers being published by her publishing company.^[2]

In 2003, Cole Catley published her own book on the life of New Zealand astronomer Beatrice Tinsley, Bright Star.^[5]

She died on 21 August 2011 from lung cancer at age 88.^[1][6][7]

Other interests

In 1952, Cole Catley and Helen Brew founded Parents Centres New Zealand, an organisation committed to providing education and support for pregnant women and their husbands.^[5] The organisation also lobbied authorities to change hospital procedures around childbirth and delivery, such as enabling fathers to be present during labour.^[5]

In 1982, the writer Frank Sargeson died, leaving his estate to Cole Catley to manage. Cole Catley established the Frank Sargeson Trust and the Buddle Finlay Sargeson Fellowship, and ensured his cottage was retained as a memorial.^[2][5] She was so successful in this endeavour that she was later also involved with establishing the Michael King Writers' Centre.^[2]

Honours and recognition

In the 1994 New Year Honours, Cole Catley was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for community service.^[8]

In the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature.

In 2009 Catley's DCNZM was redesignated as a Dame Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit that includes the appellation of Dame.^[9]

In 2010, Catley received a Copyright Licensing Writers' Award to write her autobiography, which she was working on at the time of her death.^[2]

References