Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northland Age

Author's unique labour of love rewarded with book launch

Northland Age
28 Sep, 2017 12:30 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The book launch was very much a celebration, and a chance for Ljubo Bilcich to dance with his daughter Rebecca.

The book launch was very much a celebration, and a chance for Ljubo Bilcich to dance with his daughter Rebecca.

Author/historian Kaye Dragicevich worked long and hard to earn her book launch in Kaitaia on Saturday. And she was richly rewarded, not least in the appreciation shown by the descendants of the settlers whose stories she had recorded for posterity.

Pioneer Dalmatian Settlers of the Far North had been unique in many ways, she said, beginning with the fact that it had been a very public undertaking from the start.

Ivo Yelavich was never in better voice.
Ivo Yelavich was never in better voice.

Generally authors disappeared for a while, then emerged with their book; this one had been the subject of discussion since she began working on it four years before.

One of those pioneer descendants, Frank Vinac ("My co-writer, although he would probably call himself office manager") had been the driving force, she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A committed historian, he had undertaken hundreds of hours of research, scouring books, newspapers, anywhere that would yield information, and painstakingly ensuring that names were spelled correctly.

Author/historian Kaye Dragicevich, with chief collaborator Frank Vinac, at Saturday's launch of Pioneer Dalmatian Settlers of the Far North.
Author/historian Kaye Dragicevich, with chief collaborator Frank Vinac, at Saturday's launch of Pioneer Dalmatian Settlers of the Far North.

Eight hours a day, some very late nights and at times sadly neglected housework and gardening had finally produced a record of 200 Dalmatian families. Even the index had been a major job, three weeks' work that almost drove her "around the bend."

And if they skimmed everything else, she urged her audience to read her introduction so they would understand what the pioneers had left behind them and why, and what they found on arriving in the Far North.

"The pioneers are our success stories. They paved the way for what we have now. They deserve to be remembered," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mayor John Carter agreed. The guest at countless public functions during his long political career, he was "stoked" to have been invited to this one.

"You're a star," he told Mrs Dragicevich, adding that writing this book had been in her DNA. She had told other stories, of Awanui and the missionary Matthews family, and now the story of the pioneers,

"What a proud history we have," Mr Carter said.

"And there are so many connections. I have not a drop of Dalmatian blood, but in one way or another we are all linked.

Discover more

Historian on the search for Far North soldiers' photos

08 Oct 09:30 PM

"It is the strength of these people and their descendants that makes our society what it is, who make this the great place it is."

The book was already attracting attention around the world, he added, "and Kaye has made it happen for us."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

Prisoners gain skills building homes for families in need

Northland Age

Far North news in brief: NRC weed workshops, 64 sika deer culled

Northland Age

Invasive sea spurge found at Spirits Bay, threatening native plants


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

Prisoners gain skills building homes for families in need
Northland Age

Prisoners gain skills building homes for families in need

Men at Northland Region Corrections Facility built a home for a whānau in Te Tai Tokerau.

16 Jul 07:00 PM
Far North news in brief: NRC weed workshops, 64 sika deer culled
Northland Age

Far North news in brief: NRC weed workshops, 64 sika deer culled

16 Jul 04:00 PM
Invasive sea spurge found at Spirits Bay, threatening native plants
Northland Age

Invasive sea spurge found at Spirits Bay, threatening native plants

16 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP