This Thursday in Dunedin will see the launch of Books and Boots: The story of New Zealand publisher, writer and long-distance walker, Alfred Hamish Reed ($49.95, hardback, University of Otago Press). There’s an open invitation to the public to attend, as lots of us will have fond memories of this exceedingly decent chap.

He’s been gone for thirty years now, but the publishing empire he began has done more than endure, publishing currently over 100 titles every year. Most recently, NZ's oldest publishing house saw global sales of Witi Ihimaera's The Whale Rider (International Edition).

Alf Reed left England with his family when he was 11 and finished school a year later in 1888. He left his roots in the Northland gumfields to start his publishing business in 1907, with his wife Isobel and later on, his nephew A. W. (Clif) Reed. They started with Sunday School texts, but a few years down the track they were the among the first to start publishing books on New Zealand's landscape, lifestyle, and its Maori people and culture. In this biography however, Ian Dougherty makes public for the first time letters from various editors and historians which criticise Reed for putting across 'a naively charitable and simplistic version of New Zealand history'. Ouch.

But jeez, we loved him anyway eh. In 1957 there were 300 Reed books in print, and the Reeds, uncle and nephew, had between them written 160 books. Maori Proverbs, A Dictionary of Maori Place Names, Concise Maori Dictionary and Maori Myth and Legend are still in print today. Barry Crump’s A Good Keen Man brought huge success in the sixties along with the rest of his homages to the shrine of the Bloke. Who can't remember the distinctive raupo logo (pictured) on their school books and at home – and you'll always find one or two of the old classics in baches and cribs across New Zealand.

Apparently, after his retirement, Alf Reed went into hyperdrive and walked and climbed his way all over the country, which was news to me. Check this out: he climbed Mount Egmont aged 80, Mount Ruapehu at 83, walked from North Cape to Bluff and climbed Ngauruhoe at 85, did East Cape to Cape Egmont aged 86, and walked through Marlborough at 87.

The author of this book, Ian Dougherty, spent most of his life working in various forms of media, mostly journalism, but he’s also written an eclectic bunch of non-fiction books, including a biography of legendary South Island gold prospector William 'Arawata Bill' O'Leary. He was eight years old when he first met Alfred Hamish Reed in 1961. Reed was nearing the end of his North Cape to Bluff walk. Wearing a three-piece suit and collar and tie, and carrying a battered suitcase, (no trackies and trainers for Alf) he stopped for a chat with a group of excited school children waiting to see him on his journey. Dougherty was one of them, and this biography 45 years later is a tribute to a man who had, among other things, a big part to play in NZ publishing.

You can be a part of the fun at the Dunningham Suite of the Dunedin Public Library on Thursday 1 December. But do drop a quick email to publicity@otago.ac.nz as soon as you can to let them know you’re if you’re coming.