Maurice Francis Richard Shadbolt (4 June 1932 – 10 October 2004) was a New Zealand writer and occasional playwright.
Biography
Shadbolt was born in Auckland, and was the eldest of three children. He had a younger brother and sister, Peter and Julia. Shadbolt was educated at Te Kuiti High School, Avondale College and Auckland University College. Shadbolt began writing for local West Auckland community newspapers. In the 1960s, he moved to Titirangi with his family, buying a house that overlooked Little Muddy Creek, where he spent the next 42 years writing.
In total, Shadbolt wrote 11 novels, four collections of short stories, two autobiographies, a war history, and a volume of journalism, as well as plays. He won the Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award for a short story three times: in 1963, 1967 and 1995. His first collection of short stories, The New Zealanders, was published in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. His most famous book is probably Season of the Jew (1987), which recounts the story of Te Kooti.
In the 1989 New Year Honours, Shadbolt was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature.
Shadbolt suffered from what was thought to be Alzheimer's disease, which during his autopsy was found to be Lewy body dementia. He died on 10 October 2004 in a Taumarunui rest home, surrounded by his children. Shadbolt had five children: Sean, Brendan and twins Tui and Daniel from his first marriage to journalist and author Gillian Heming, and Brigid from his second marriage to television presenter Barbara Magner. Shadbolt was also married to actress Bridget Armstrong. His cousin Tim Shadbolt was Mayor of Invercargill for nearly 20 years until 2022.