Crowd funding needed for book to be published

By Ann Packer

Ever taken part in a crowd-funding exercise? It can be quite rewarding to be part of someone’s special project, as some locals can attest.

It has taken Eastbourne resident Rudi Mack (pictured right) countless, mostly enjoyable hours over the last 20 years to complete the manuscript of his new book on Abel Tasman’s epic 1642 voyage to New Zealand and the Pacific. Having a few European languages up his sleeve helped. He has a publisher already. But to get it over the line, he needs a bit of financial assistance.

“When I first read about Abel Tasman, I thought everything that there was to know had been published,” says the antiquarian bookseller and historian, who has a special interest in Pacific sailing adventures. “But as I kept reading and researching, I found some untranslated Dutch, French, German and Italian sources about the voyage and other sources, including illustrations, that had largely been ignored by historians.”

Rudi’s new book is based on these sources, and also Māori and Tongan oral traditions. The results of his research are often surprising. The book reveals that Māori remembered many details about the brief encounters – including how news about Tasman’s visit was passed on between iwi, and in the Pacific from Tonga to other islands.

In one of the lesser-known illustrations of the voyage, Rudi has been able to identify an ancient canoe landing site in Golden Bay, which is still visible today. This same illustration also suggests that the Dutch came very close to a landing or possibly even briefly landed – though previously it had been thought they never set foot on shore.

Rudi has his publisher but now needs to raise funds towards the publication costs, which are understandably high for a hardcover of 430 pages and 75 illustrations. He is running a crowdfunding campaign on the very reputable Arts Foundation site, boosted.org.nz. Donations are tax deductible. If you want to support a local author you can read more about the project and donate here: https://www.boosted.org. nz/preview/first-contacts