Introducing Glyn Harper

Glyn Harper is Professor of War Studies at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. He is Massey's Project Manager of the Centenary History of New Zealand and the First World War. A former teacher, he joined the Australian Army in 1988 and after eight years transferred to the New Zealand Army, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Glyn was the army's official historian for the deployment to East Timor and is the author of numerous history books for adults. His children's books include Le Quesnoy, Jim's Letters and Roly, the Anzac Donkey. In 2015 Glyn and illustrator Jenny Cooper won the Best Picture Book Award at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, as well as a Storylines Notable Picture Book Award, for Jim's Letters, a moving story about a correspondence between two brothers during the First World War. In 2016 Penguin Books NZ published 'Gladys goes to War'. It has been number one in the bestseller list since its release.

We asked Glyn to answer the following questions about his book 'Gladys goes to war'.

Something Positive (happy) you discovered while writing/illustrating the book.

I     I was excited to uncover Glady's story. Such an amazing woman deserved to have her story told.

 

Something Sad (tragic) you discovered while writing/illustrating the book.

      Gladys'  husband, William Henning died in September 1918. Her two brothers also died in the war; one just days before the end of the war. She also had a severe case of influenza which permanently damaged her lungs.

      Something Interesting (that surprised you) you discovered while writing/illustrating the book.

       I was surprised that Gladys achieved so much: working on cars and as a car sales rep, learning to fly, driving across Australia and as a member of the RSL.