Blackball has been in the news as the famous strike of 1908 was remembered.
The first time I visited this quaint West Coast mining town was as a sixth-former more than 70 years ago, but I have often gone there in more recent times. For honey. Whenever I am on the coast I try to get to Blackball to buy some of Glasson's splendid honey.
But I have other reasons for my interest. I have known four authors who have written about the place, starting with Bill Pearson and his novel, Coal Flat, which was published in 1963.
Bill was an associate professor in the English department at the University of Auckland for many
years, and wrote one of the most perceptive essays on New Zealand society ever published. If you haven't read Fretful Sleepers you have missed a literary gem.
The second novel was called Blackball 08, written by Eric Beardsley, a journalist who became information officer at the University of Canterbury.
He gave a factual account of the disruptive efforts of Paddy Webb, Bob Semple and Pat Hickey but used his imagination in describing their private lives. The book came out in 1984 and I remember writing a pretty favourable review.
When the autobiography of Christchurch medical man Dr Francis Bennett was published it included a fascinating account of his years in practice at Blackball during the Depression.
The book was called A Canterbury Tale but it was the West Coast chapters which captivated me.
Dr Bennett was a man of principle and, in spite of some run-ins with union leaders, earned the respect and even affection of the mining community.
What about the fourth book? The answer is that, at the time of writing, I haven't seen it. I had no hesitation in ordering a copy of The Great '08 because of my respect for its writer, Brian Wood, a former schoolmaster, who lives in Blackball.
His book on the disaster at the Brunner mine in 1896 when 65 men and boys died in an explosion is a superb commemorative history. Brian Wood's meticulous research makes me confident that his book about the Blackball strike will be of top quality.
It is fascinating that this little settlement, now in decay, has attracted the attention of so many writers. The place is pinched between the Grey River and the hills, on a small plateau.
Its pub achieved a measure of fame when the international Hilton Hotel chain objected to the West Coast owners calling it the "Blackball Hilton''.
Its amenities are minimal and yet it has a curious charm. I wouldn't want to live there but am always keen to visit - mainly for honey but also because Blackball is a monument to a different era.
Gordon Parry is a Dunedin writer and broadcaster.
