A cup of tea with... JOY COWLEY
‘I was labelled a bad reader and if we made a mistake, the ruler would go around our legs’
Joy Cowley is one of our most celebrated children’s authors and a recipient of the country’s highest honour, the Order of New Zealand. At 84, Joy is still writing, but no longer every day. Her main focus now is on caring for her husband Terry, who suffered a serious stroke three years ago. The Weekly catches up with Joy at her Featherston home.
Joy, is it true that at age 11 you helped your father build your family home?
Yes. And what I remember most is that we always had clothes and shoes that were handed down from cousins. We didn’t have anything new. When we started working on the house, my parents bought me a pair of overalls and that was
