My passion
I don’t believe humanity is on a mission to ruin life on earth, but that’s exactly what our collective actions are doing.
Are we a lost cause? Or have we just been busily fitting in with a flawed ‘success’ story that was always going to lead us to this existential mess?
Of course, we can change anything we recognise as a story. But our insidiously busy and consumptive way of living is a story that has been around for so long now it seems like an immutable law. But it’s not. We can change our way of living, and our prospects, but only if enough of us can see our habits for what they are.
The tricky thing here is that this flawed success story keeps us so busy and individualised that there’s little time for reflection – for stepping back and recognising our plight and options as the thriving, powerful collectives we could be.
I passionately believe that an intervention of simplicity is required. Something so simple it can break through the noise and reveal the simple, practical options available to us. This is why I have dedicated so many years of voluntary toil to nut-out what is now summarised as the Same Page Manifesto. (The full manifesto is due for publication on 30 September 2025.)
Please, check it out. We need to team up.
My qualifications and experience
I have been writing professionally since completing a BA in Linguistics from Victoria University of Wellington in 1989.
In addition to the publications listed on the books page, I have written dozens of newspaper and magazine columns and articles, and have published one novel, The Julian Calendar (as William Henry).
Through my consulting and teaching work for my company Nakedize, and through previous businesses (including an inbound travel agency, a web design agency, and an online retailer — all sold), I have worked on hundreds of projects and thousands of documents.
I have been an Associate of Victoria University of Wellington since 2008, and have served on the judging panel of the New Zealand Plain Language Awards since 2011. From 2014 to 2022, I also served as a founding member of the National Consumer Council (formerly Consumer Advisory Group) for Southern Cross Healthcare Limited.
Earlier in my career, I worked as a freelance photojournalist and proofreader. I was also fortunate to receive scriptwriting training from South Pacific Pictures.
My interests and pastimes
In addition to my passion for philosophy, I have a keen interest in human needs, history, anthropology, conflict resolution, natural design, and all the storytelling arts. Not surprisingly, I love to travel.
I also enjoy movies, the outdoors, running, cycling, music, reading, cooking, and (rather to my surprise) handyman stuff.