Brave, Mad & Memorable: Journalist On Assignment by Rob Harley

Investigative journalist Rob Harley gives his in-depth personal perspective on ten TV documentaries that he's fronted over the years, and pulls no punches.

I first read this in early 2004, and I guess it's testament to Rob's work that, six years on, I found only two tales in here that I had forgotten. A lot of New Zealand's geography and culture slot together better for me now too.

The stories are:

1. Searching For Diana - I expected this book to open with a happy optimistic tale to please the crowds and encourage the reader to continue through the rest of the volume, but this harrowing account of one man's search for his missing daughter overseas is anything but. No wonder this one stayed with me.

2. The Poor Man's James Bond - Investigating a US poison guru and his circumstantial connection to 1990's siege in Aramoana.

3. Trying To Remember - Surgeon Lee Savill's struggle to regain her identity, memory and career after a massive car accident.

4. Alien Encounters - Abductees share their experiences.

5. West Side Story - A man who killed his de facto wife and hid the body in his car for seven weeks.

6. In Memory Of Andrew - A woman and her child work through their loving husband/father's suicide from depression.

7. The Long Walk Of David Green - A wheelchair-bound air-crash survivor determines to both walk again, and forgive those responsible.

8. The Galloping Granny - Judy Moore's lifetime in overseas aid work.

9. Playing With Fire - Pyromaniacs who lead a double-life as volunteer firefighters.

10. New York, New York - The short-term aftermath of 9/11.

Available here.
Brief review of The Power To Go The Distance - Staying Strong On The Inside by Rob Harley here.