Jean Watson (writer)

Jean Watson ONZM (1933 – December 2014) was a New Zealand novelist and humanitarian. She is notable for her first novel Stand in the Rain and her work with an orphanage in southern India, which is the subject of the documentary Aunty and the Star People.[1] Stand in the Rain is, in part, about her marriage to New Zealand author Barry Crump.[2][3]

For the American nurse theorist, see Jean Watson.

Jean Watson
Born1933
Died2014
NationalityNew Zealand
OccupationWriter

Early life

Watson was born in 1933 and lived on a farm near Whangarei during her childhood. She later became a freelance writer in Wellington, where she also got a degree in religious studies from Victoria University.[4] From 1962 Watson lived with Barry Crump and they were married for ten years.[5][6][7]

India

In the 1980s[lower-alpha 1] Watson took a trip to India where she met a man named Subbiah who was trying to collect funds to open a orphanage. Watson returned home, sold her house, then used most of the funds to support the creation of an orphanage in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu.[10] She also supported the building of a school and community college in the same area. This story, along with the conflicts she had with Subbiah over the ownership of the orphanage, were covered by the documentary Aunty and the Star People in 2014.[7][9][11][12]

Writing

Stand in the Rain and her 1994 novel Three Sea Stories both received critical acclaim.[13] However her other novels The Balloon Watchers, The World is an Orange and the Sun, Flowers for Happyever: A Prose Lyric and Address to a King were paid little attention. As her writing progressed she included more elements of Vedanta philosophy.[4] She also wrote Karunai Illam: The Story of an Orphanage in 1992 a non fiction account of her time with the orphanage.

Later life

In 2001 she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.[14][9] Watson died of a brain aneurism in December 2014. Her son Harry Watson plans to posthumously publish three of her novels.[9]

Notes
  1. 1984,[8] 1987[9] or 1989[5]

References
  1. "Good Times: Christchurch events this long weekend and beyond". Stuff. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  2. "An extraordinary tale". Stuff. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  3. "Girl behind the good keen man, Jane Tolerton". New Zealand Review of Books Pukapuka Aotearoa. 1 June 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  4. "New Zealand Book Council". www.bookcouncil.org.nz. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  5. "Review: Aunty and the Star People". Stuff. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  6. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Relationships: Barry and Jean". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  7. Otto, Michael (31 August 2014). "Jean Aunty has spent herself for children". NZ Catholic Newspaper. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  8. "Novelist Jean Watson dies". RNZ. 29 December 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  9. Crombie, Nathan (9 February 2015). "Writer's life journey reaches end". ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  10. "An extraordinary tale". Stuff. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  11. "Following Jean Watson's passage to India". Stuff. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  12. NZIFF: Aunty and the Star People, retrieved 12 May 2019
  13. "Jean Watson: The Story of an Orphanage in India; Three Sea Stories". 30 August 2001. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  14. "Editorial: True reflection of breadth of talent". 30 December 2001. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
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