The final years of enigmatic mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt have been captured in a new book written by a long-time friend.

Shadbolt: Tim’s Final Chapter is set for release next week and covers the mayor’s life from 2013 to his death earlier this year — a period which included suing the council, tension with his deputy and concern over his ability to do the role.

The book was penned by former Hamilton mayor Margaret Evans, who described Sir Tim  as an “outstanding New Zealander”.

“Regardless of whether you saw him as a performer, or whether you saw him as a local leader, there’s no doubt that he was hugely interesting to so many people,” she said.

The pair had known each other for some time, having met in the 1980s when Sir Tim  was mayor of Waitematā.

In 2021, she even formed part of a group which helped Sir Tim  sort through boxes removed from his office.

“Every time we opened a pack, Tim would start telling us about the story. And he started talking about doing another book,” Ms Evans said.

The end result was a 545-page work, which also included Sir Tim’s  own writing by way of old newspaper columns.

A former journalist, Ms Evans said she was grateful to the city council for allowing her to access its archives and had spent at least six months “just reading”.

“I think it’s going to be of interest to people who just loved Tim, and they were people all over the country.”

Sir Tim Shadbolt, pictured at his council office in December 2020 during his final term as mayor. Credit: Stephen Jaquiery.

The book has been published by TOTI Charitable Trust and will launch at a special Invercargill Public Library event on October 10.

Its cover features a Deidre Copeland painting titled Seriously Tim, which now hangs at Invercargill’s Civic Theatre.

Copeland would be speaking at the book launch and had a funny story about the difficulty in getting Sir Tim  to stop smiling, Ms Evans said.

“And I thought that was important as well, because there were definitely two sides to Tim — the great entertainer, but then the other side was also very focused on making the world a better place.”

Ms Evans acknowledged AI had been used to condense reports and help with writing, but she had a message regarding the technology: “Always read what it’s written and always check it.”

 Sir Tim died on January 8, aged 78, having served eight terms as mayor of Invercargill and two terms as Waitematā mayor.

Ms Evans served as Hamilton mayor from 1989 to 1998.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.