I can think of many a book launch in Wellington where people have gone to support the book, but have also gone to be seen in a Karen Walker jacket and good shoes. Small groups engage in small conversation.
At events like Greytown's book launch, you get the impression everyone knows everyone else. It's a good excuse to turn up.
On the matter of the three-year project to create the book, it is reassuring there are still people around who know they, and many others of their ilk, are full of valuable knowledge that will be lost if another decade or two is allowed to pass.
No single person is that important but, collectively, there are people out there who can talk to the vibrancy of their time. It is interesting to see hospital politics has never really gone away and, historically, might have even been worse, such as the time when Wairarapa and Wellington briefly joined under one board.
We hear, perhaps too often, of the "golden age" of New Zealand, in association with complaints about the 21st century, but I tend to think that, apart from the birth of the internet, life probably had similar frustrations and hardships as it has now. It is good to have historical works that remind us of the realities, and that those before us were not perfect. But it can also make it clear we're not perfect now, and it's good to be reminded of that.
There is perhaps a sense of wanting to leave a mark on the world, a legacy, and an historical work is an excellent way to go. Mildly selfish, but so what. It's hard work. And also worthy of note: this kind of thing doesn't have to be left to academics. This was the work of writers, publishers and health professionals - all who live here.