GARRICK TREMAIN: This Is It Then
- Administrator
- Dec 14, 2025
- 1 min read
This book is a delight. Not only an artist, a cartoonist, a golfer, horse-racer, musician and poet, Garrick Tremain IS a writer. For readers of a similar vintage, especially those who did overly-ambitious, occasionally reckless OEs in the heady days of James Michener novels, there is much to relate to; who eventually returned to a somewhat conformist country that nevertheless grasped humour without reservation and always yearned to bust out.
Garrick wasn't alone and he stokes the memories of the like-minded.
I've read this book and was enthralled. But I'll let the blurb speak:
"From farm sheds to art galleries, from shipwrecks and sketchbooks to the pages of the daily news, Garrick Tremain has lived a life as colourful as his watercolour paintings.
In This Is It Then, the celebrated New Zealand artist and political cartoonist reflects on a lifetime of adventure - from horseback escapades and extensive world travels, to a distinguished career in art and an enduring love story with his wife Jill.
Told with Tremain's trademark wit, sharp eye, and irreverent humour, this is an honest, richly detailed journey through decades of creativity, controversy, laughter and loss - the full canvas of a life well-lived."
And if you needed a bonus, there are pages of colour plates of Garrick's favourite watercolours and cartoons.
Garrick did Bassett, Brash and Hide an immense favour in allowing the publication of his cartoons post official 'retirement'. Their brilliance never diminished.
We owe you Garrick.
You can buy a copy of Garrick's book here.
Garrick,
You're a National Treasure, probably unrealized, because most couldn't get off their fat arses to take the trouble to recognize you as such. I've read your book and identify it as a true and accurate accounting of the life and times of a genuine Kiwi lad. It shows you chose wisely and spent your time diligently. You deserve all the accolades you get.
Well done mate, my warm thanks for a great read..... and a MERRY CHRISTMAS to you.
M@Foxglove.Taranaki.NZ
Garrick tremain.
Your wit, your sharp intellect, and your ability to encapsulate an entire story at the stroke of a pen will always be appreciated and never ever forgotten by those of us young enough to read these gems in the local newspaper you penned, and the captions above the cartoon told the whole story.
I first started reading your cartoons in my early '20s, and was devastated when you got sidelined by the woke, but be that as it may that mattered not. Not to me.
You weren't about to be shoved aside and told to button it...no... you kept at it, and you never caved, and to me there is no other attribute more worthy of respect that…
If ever there was a New Year honour due.
No doubt about it . A national treasure. A keen eye and a sharp wit
I'd drink to that.