Bill Edginton Gay community volunteer and retired educator Bill Edginton has written a novel, From Freyberg, which encompases gay men's relationships and place in society. Who are you and what's your background? I'm an author living with my partner, Gary Morris, on two hectares in the Wairarapa. An ozzy friend recently described me (tongue in cheek) as a 'semi-lapsed liberal Calvinist'. I grew up in Akaroa and Christchurch where I went to school and university. I worked in the Department of External Affairs for five years and subsequently in the Department / Ministry of Education where I became Manager for International Education. I have been involved in gay service organisations (Gay Switchboard, AIDS Support Network / NZ AIDS Foundation in the eighties, and community worker for Galaxies in the nineties). What have you hoped to achieve by your writing? I've hoped to provide a voice in fiction which describes gay men in society, their concerns, the nature of their relationships, and possible ways of being. I've also wanted to describe something of gay men's participation in social change leading to law reform, and their response to the AIDS pandemic. What characterises the New Zealand GLBT community for you? Friendship, partying, connection with the wider GLBT world, networking on human rights, faith community, What is the worst thing for you about being GLBT? The never-ending need to come out and educate straights. What is the best thing about being GLBT? The gay and lesbian friends I have made. Relationship status? Long-term partnership. Favourite food GayNZ.com - 7th April 2005