War of words hits the bookshelves

By MONIQUE DEVEREUX South Island Correspondent


A war of words that has spanned almost six years and resulted in the publication of rival biographies has finally reached bookstores.

But it is the story behind the John Britten works that has had publishers whispering behind their manuscripts all year. Biographies about the same person hitting the shelves together does not usually make good business sense.

The spat between the rival writers even went public, each questioning the other's ethics in the letters column of the Press newspaper in Christchurch, the late John Britten's home town.

It has reportedly been an embarrassment for the Britten family. His twin sister Marguerite has said: "John wouldn't have wanted it."

But John Britten, written by Auckland's Tim Hanna, and Dare To Dream: The John Britten Story, by Christchurch's Felicity Price, landed just weeks apart - and both are proving popular with readers wanting to know about the man behind the Britten motorcycle.

Britten died of melanoma in 1995. He left behind a wife, former international model Kirsteen Price, and their three children.

Britten enjoyed a glamorous lifestyle; he partied hard, loved cars and women. He worked as a glass artist and then became a property developer, but it was his revolutionary motorcycle design that earned him international respect.

The bike he created in his backyard broke world speed records and was regarded as the most advanced bike of its time. Only 10 of the distinctive pink and blue machines were made before he died, and the business no longer manufactures them.

Britten's colourful life and inspirational achievements were perfect material for a biography.

The prologue to this saga is the contract between Mr Hanna, HarperCollins and Britten's widow, Kirsteen.

After four years the contract was abandoned. But the reasons why are not entirely clear.

Mr Hanna is bitter. He blames Kirsteen Britten for wasting his time, going so far as to call her a "nightmare".

He believes she formed an opinion of his work based on an early draft, did not like it and did not want it published. "I suppose she thought she had won [when HarperCollins pulled out] and that my book would never ever be published. But I wasn't going to be beaten by that sort of nonsense."

Kirsteen Britten has said the first attempt to chronicle her husband's life had been upsetting and distressing. "After four years of difficulty with it the publisher pulled out so it was a relief to be able to find another publisher and an author prepared to do justice to John's story."

She is also reported as saying: "For me, in the end, I felt it was a bit biased and slanted. We were very disappointed."

So her cousin Felicity Price, a former journalist now working in public relations, was asked to write the "official" biography.

But she has a different spin on the story. She said the original plan was to have two books - one more technical and one a coffee-table work - and that the HarperCollins contract only broke down because Mr Hanna did not deliver.

HarperCollins commissioning editor Lorain Day would not confirm that, saying the firm would not be making any comment on the matter.

Mr Hanna said a fresh contract was drawn up about six months into the agreement that abandoned the two-book deal. "I didn't think there should be two. HarperCollins, Kirsteen and I all agreed there would only be one book. We signed a new contract."

After HarperCollins pulled out altogether, Mr Hanna took legal advice to find out if he could publish his work. Advised the situation "was still iffy and they still had some rights" he approached a friend of Britten's, Howard Paterson to, help.

Mr Paterson, a multimillionaire entrepreneur, died this year. "He read it and decided it should be published. That resulted in my receiving a letter giving me permission to publish my work, providing that the [Britten] estate was able to vet the final thing." Mr Hanna said.

"They insisted that the contract was still valid and that's why they had the right to vet everything I had written. They were insisting on that right up until my book was finally published."

Mr Hanna said a day after John Britten went to print this year, the Britten estate withdrew permission to publish because it did not agree with his title. "We've just ignored it and they've gone away."

But Mr Hanna claimed that same contract prohibited the Britten estate from having anything to do with a rival work. "Felicity Price's is a rival work. We may yet test that in court, when I get my head around it."

Ms Price is not expecting any legal action and said that Mr Hanna was just "trying to make mischief".

It took her just under a year to write Dare to Dream, the coffee-table book she describes as "the whole thing, the family, the bike and the other things John made".

She believes the biographies are different enough to both succeed. "The fact that there's two I think gives them even more choice. Some people are even buying both."

Geoff Walker, publishing director of Penguin, said having two biographies released at the same time was almost unheard of. "You'd never have two biographies of an All Black captain."

But he said the books were at different ends of the market in terms of production quality and who they would appeal to.

Elizabeth Caffin, of Auckland University Press, said the ability for both books to survive in the market was "a bit doubtful".

In the Booksellers New Zealand sales list for the two weeks to November 14 both books were in the top 10, Mr Hanna's at No 4 and Ms Price's at No 6.

Figures for the following fortnight put Mr Hanna's book at No 9. Ms Price's had dropped out of the listings. In Christchurch sales appear to be even. A visit to 10 bookstores found both had sold out in three shops, and in a further four one or the other had sold out.

In the end it may be that the public don't realise the difference. One woman in Paper Plus was holding Mr Hanna's book while leafing through Ms Price's as it sat on the shelf, trying to decide which to buy. "It's the same, isn't it? Just different packaging. I'll just probably get whichever is cheaper."