Author Helen McNeill Photo: Supplied
A Striking Truth Photo: Supplied
The 1986 pulp and paper mill strike in Kawerau were so bitter and divisive, they cast a shadow even now over the town. That's what author and former psychologist Helen McNeill discovered when she started to research for her debut novel A Striking Truth. Sir James Fletcher opened the Tasman Pulp and Paper Mill in the early 1950s and it became the region's biggest employer. Helen says the mill used to be like one big family, until Hugh Fletcher took over and changed the culture of the factory.
