Destiny's head the real star at biography launch

Brian Tamaki. Photo / Sarah Ivey

It's the shoes at the foot of Bishop Brian Tamaki's impressive all-black ensemble that catch the eye as his delegation sweeps up the library stairs at Massey University's North Shore campus.

Some kind of reptile skin, most likely.

"Nah, they're woven," opines the Herald's photographer. "But you should check out that ring."

Diamonds might be a girl's best friend, but the bishop clearly isn't averse to them either.

He listens intently to the warm-up acts. His head tilts to the right and he taps his foot intermittently, but his face gives little away about his views on Destiny: The Life and Times of a Self-Made Apostle - a "quasi-authorised" biography (Penguin's publicist helpfully provides that term).

The fact that he's here at all, though, rather gives the game away.

"I'm feeling quite, wow, chuffed," he tells the 100-odd gatherers.

The few issues he has with the book revolve around four or five "porkies". The one that annoys him most is an incorrect tale about him buying son Sam a Corvette, which he most certainly didn't. Other than that, he's happy enough.

The bishop immediately front- foots the curiosity that he has opened his doors to author Peter Lineham, despite the professor being openly gay. Bishop Tamaki is married, his kids are all married, he fishes and hunts pigs, "what most Kiwi men do", he assures us.

But contrary to popular belief: "I do not hate anybody. I do not dislike gays."

Next thing he'll be telling us he has a lot of gay friends. "I have a lot of gay friends."

Professor Lineham hits the nail square on its bonce when it's his turn to talk. "I appreciate most of you have come to see Bishop Tamaki and not myself."

Guilty. The Herald asks the bishop for an interview. We chat about the church's view on homosexuality (it doesn't agree with it but has no problem with gay people).

It's a token effort, though, as the main object of the exercise was simply to ascertain whether the sometimes hard-to-reach evangelist will talk to the paper on his big night.

Sadly, the big questions - what are the shoes made of (definitely reptile or reptile imitation on closer inspection) and what sort of car did he really buy Sam? - remain unasked.