Kevin Milne, whose entertaining memoir was published under the title The Life and Times of a Brown Paper Bag — after the infamous comment in The New Zealand Listener: ‘In an age of glossy packaging, Kevin Milne is a brown paper bag’ — was the star of New Zealand television’s longest-running and most beloved show Fair Go. His television career spans over 40 years, and co-hosts numbered among them Kerre Woodham, Brian Edwards, Carol Hirschfeld and Kim Hill. In 2004 he won a Qantas Media Award for Best Presenter, and in 2009 he won the Qantas Awards’ Best Presenter News and Current Affairs. In a Reader’s Digest Poll he was voted New Zealand’s second most-trusted man, after Victoria Cross recipient Willie Apiata.
Beattie’s Book Blog wrote:‘As he [Milne] says, Fair Go stories are all in the telling. So, too, is his memoir. It’s insightful, incisive and constantly entertaining. Kevin’s relaxed and laconic writing and his self-deprecating humour makes this such a joy to read as he talks and laughs about his life, both on and off television.’
Kerre Woodham, reviewing the book for PaperPlus, called the memoir ‘warm and humorous’ and ‘full of wonderful anecdotes’, declaring that Milne, like his brown paper bag moniker, is ‘real’ he’s not one for frippery, and he’s recyclable’.
