Photo: NZ HeraldJournalist and author Ian Cross, was the first holder of the Burns Fellowship at Otago University, has died aged 93. His first novel, The God Boy, published in 1957, won critical acclaim in New Zealand and overseas. After his Burns Fellowship, Ian Cross became the public relations manager of the then iconic carpet firm Feltex. Ian Cross served New Zealand literature in various voluntary positions including the writers' organisation PEN, the Arts Council, the Indecent Publications Tribunal, and Downstage Theatre. A statement from Ian Cross' family said that he died peacefully surrounded by family at a Kāpiti Coast rest home.

Source: Otago Daily Times November 02, 2019 22:26 UTC