Julian "Joe" Bennett[1] (born 20 April 1957) is a writer and columnist living in Lyttelton, New Zealand.
Born in England, Bennett emigrated to New Zealand when he was 29. Before his writing career, he worked as an English teacher at Christ's College in Christchurch. During this time, Bennett wrote the words to the musical "Tramps", which was presented as a co-production between Christ's College and St Margaret's College in 1994, and garnered a review in The Press.
Bennett is a columnist for Christchurch's newspaper The Press and for New Zealand Gardener as well as being an author.
From the "Introduction" to Fun Run and Other Oxymorons he describes himself as follows:
"If anything holds these articles together it is that I like people but not in herds. I distrust all beliefs, most thought and anything ending in ism. Most opinion is emotion in fancy dress."
Bennett is a seasoned hitchhiker and has a dog called Blue. He has previously had two dogs called Baz and Jess. He is fond of dogs and this is reflected in the titles and cover art of many of his books.
He has been in segments on the New Zealand comedy show Moon TV hosted by "That Guy" Leigh Hart in a segment called "Bookzone: A Show About Books".
In December 2011 he appeared in the media for refusing to evacuate his Lyttelton home as ordered by the Christchurch City Council due to fears of falling rocks if another earthquake was to occur.[2]
