Recall is an interesting aspect of writing about one's own life. Dame Cath Tizard in Cat amongst the pigeons writes frequently that details "have vanished in the mists of my memory". True to the events or not, this is a very readable book covering the political life of an extremely busy woman and highlighting some major changes in New Zealand life over the last 50 years. She revels in the fact that there are now many more women in influential positions. This book is full of anecdotes, often amusing, about people she has met, from Royals to schoolchildren, and includes her outspoken comments about any unkindness, unfairness or discrimination that she met anywhere in the world. In her conclusion she quotes Aldous Huxley "it's a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one's life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than - we should try to be a little kinder". Cath Tizard's kindness has had amazing repercussions in New Zealand and they are well-documented here.
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