History buff
Tina White is a professional journalist, starting on the Manawatu¯ Standard, then The Dominion and, with her husband, fellow journalist Mervyn Dykes, founding Gulf News on Waiheke Island in 1973. She later freelanced in Wellington for Contact newspaper (later The Wellingtonian). A 17-year stint in Vancouver, Canada, brought her a leading role in western Canada’s longest-running theatrical improv production, Tony and Tina’s Wedding, and an eight-year day job as historical storyteller and entertainer for tourists aboard the reproduction paddlewheeler Native on the Fraser River. Back in New Zealand, she wrote features and food stories for the Manawatu¯ Standard, and started her popular weekly historical series Memory Lane in that paper. Last year, Tina was voted Manawatu¯ Historian of the Year by the Palmerston North Heritage Trust.