Nigel Latta spent his life giving, guiding and caring – Editorial

On the day he passed, Nigel Latta's last book Lessons on Living was released.

THE FACTS

• Nigel Latta’s final book, Lessons on Living, was released the day he passed away.
• Latta used humour and empathy to address complex topics like mental health and parenting.
• He dedicated his life to helping others, even while battling cancer.

Even in death, Nigel Latta will continue to help people in new ways.

On the day he passed, Latta’s last book Lessons on Living was released. It is described as three principles he had learned after three decades working as a clinical psychologist.

“What do you do when you’re told you only have months to live?” the back reads. “If you’re Nigel Latta, first, you’re going to eat a lot of ice cream.”

Latta would often use humour to talk and write about difficult subjects and his final piece of work is yet another example of his remarkable ability to provide insight to the complexities and difficulties we all face every day.

In September 2024, he shared a video on social media revealing doctors had discovered an “inoperable” tumour in his stomach.

Even with such difficult personal news for someone to take, he found a way of explaining and reacting to how he had come to terms with the sobering revelation.

Whether on TV or in his books, Latta talked us through topics such as mental health, crime and poverty.

In a world where we are increasingly suspicious of people and what they have to say, he was someone who had a gift for tackling the tough stuff with empathy.

Many Kiwi parents would have read and been helped by his parenting books and later, his 2009 hit TV programme The Politically Incorrect Parenting Show.

Latta’s outlook on life was always positive, even during difficult moments. Several Herald readers have noted his work to support educators and children through the Christchurch earthquakes.

Others, including former patients, have recalled the help he provided through his work as a counsellor.

Even as he was fighting cancer and sick from chemotherapy, Latta continued to support charities and speak at events.

He dedicated his life to helping others with compassion through their toughest challenges.

The final words in his new book ended on a poignant note.

“After working this toolkit all my life, and staying on the road all these long years, and getting up after all the falls, and pushing through pain, and stress and suffering, and all the triumphs, and all the disasters, and all the joys, and all the sorrows, and raising a family, and all that brings with it, and finding love, and most of all having now lived through months and months of staring down the clucking face of death itself, I finally arrived at the last enduring truth. I learned what I always knew but never truly understood. There is only one metric that really matters when we measure ourselves against the way we’ve chosen to live our lives: In the end ... there is only love.”

Latta spent his life giving, guiding, and caring. He was a great New Zealander. His empathy, knowledge and voice will be dearly missed.