Ronald Hugh Morrieson (29 January 1922 – 26 December 1972) was a novelist and short story writer in the New Zealand vernacular, who was little known in his home country until after his death.
[1] In early 1972 Morrieson lamented to novelist Maurice Shadbolt, "I hope I'm not another one of these poor buggers who get discovered when they're dead",[2] only to die in obscurity in his small home town of Hāwera.
He classed Morrieson as one of the novelists of the "Provincial Period, 1935–1964", and one of the saddest, thanks to a lack of recognition during his life, despite support from authors Maurice Shadbolt and C. K.
The tale of two conmen stars Peter Bland, Phillip Gordon and a much praised supporting performance by Māori comedian Billy T James, as a man who thinks he is a Mexican bandito.
[citation needed] During the early 1990s, Morrieson's house on the corner of Regent Street and South Road, Hāwera was pulled down to make way for a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet.
A protest group from within Hāwera who called themselves The Scarecrow Committee, after Morrieson's novel, tried in vain to prevent the author's house being pulled down.
It sat on his farm, slowly rotting away behind a boxthorn hedge, while Mr Surgenor discussed with his friend, Tawhiti Museum owner Nigel Ogle, how best to use it.
[9] A fictional meeting between Morrieson and poet James K. Baxter is detailed in Horseplay, a play by award-winning playwright Ken Duncum.