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Home / Horowhenua Chronicle

Quirky and humorous holiday tales lead to travel book

Paul Williams
By Paul Williams
Journalist·Horowhenua Chronicle·
8 May, 2023 10:38 PM2 mins to read

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Levin author Tony Straw.

Levin author Tony Straw.

A Levin travel writer who first put pen to paper in his late 70s is about to release his second book.

Tony Straw and his wife Lee share a love of travel and adventure and during a recent trip he corresponded with family and friends with news of their travels.

He enjoyed telling those tales. They enjoyed reading them. So he set about publishing a book of travel memoirs.

Tony does the writing and sharing of the stories, but it could be said they’re very much a team. Lee was the more sociable of the two and as a result often the genesis for meeting a lot of new people and sparking the adventures that led to the stories.

There was a deliberate accent on the quirky and humorous.

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“You try and make them entertaining ... just take out the best bits,” he said.

His very first book titled Avoiding The Autobahn centred around an earlier trip, mostly through Germany. Around the Adriatic is based on their honeymoon travels through the Mediterranean on a cruise ship. The books were published in the UK.

Levin author Tony Straw.
Levin author Tony Straw.

Around the Adriatic starts with an inland journey through Italy, before cruising on to the Balkans, then to Malta, Sicily, Naples and Rome. Conditions aren’t always kind, locals can be mischievous, but our couple aren’t about to let these things stand in the way of a good time.

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Straw, who is now 81, admitted it was a bit easier writing a book the second time around, albeit helped by Covid-19 lockdowns that enabled him to finish it more quickly than might have been the case otherwise.

He has a book launch of Around the Adriatic planned at Te Takeretanga o kura-hau-pō in Levin tomorrow where he also volunteers, helping to shelve books. He is also treasurer for the Friends of the Library fundraising committee.

Straw had also done volunteer work for the Radio Reading Service. It was there that he turned stories of his travels into a 10-episode series of half-hour episodes, that helped form the basis of the book.

The book launch of Around the Adriatic at Te Takeretanga o kura-hau-pō starts at 10.30am and there will be an opportunity for the public to hear of some of the stories and purchase copies.

He had hoped their next trip would be through Eastern Europe, but that idea had been paused for the time being.




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