Ronald Allan Palenski (31 March 1945 – 22 August 2023) was a New Zealand journalist and sportsman. Palenski was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

on 31 March 1945. He started as a journalist with ''

The Evening Star ''The Evening Star'' is a 1996 American comedy drama film directed by Robert Harling, adapted from the 1992 novel by Larry McMurtry. It is a sequel to the Academy Award-winning 1983 film ''Terms of Endearment'' starring Shirley MacLaine, who r ...

'' in Dunedin and went on to work with the New Zealand Press Association and '' The Dominion''. He established the

New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the hall ...

and administered it from 1998 until illness forced his retirement not long before he died. In the

2003 New Year Honours The 2003 New Year's Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British monarch's honours system, where 1 January is marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of ot ...

, Palenski was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

, for services to sports journalism. In November 2022, he was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. He wrote approximately 50 books, most of them on sport, but some also on New Zealand history. Palenski died of cancer on 22 August 2023, at the age of 78.

Selected publications

Rugby

* ''

Graham Mourie Graham Neil Kenneth Mourie (born 8 September 1952) is a former New Zealand All Black flanker and coach of the Hurricanes. He was one of the great All Black captains in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was first selected for the All Blacks in ...

, Captain: An Autobiography'' (1982; written with Graham Mourie) * '' Loveridge, Master Halfback'' (1985) * ''

Lochore Lochore is a former mining village in Fife, Scotland. It takes its name from the nearby Loch Ore. It is largely joined to the adjacent villages of Ballingry to the north and Crosshill to the south. Education Most of the children in Lochore go ...

: An Authorised Biography'' (1996; written with Alex Veysey and Gary Caffell) * ''New Zealand Rugby: Stories of Heroism & Valour'' (2002) * ''All Blacks: The Authorised Portrait'' (2007; edited) * ''The New Invincibles: How the 2013 All Blacks Created History'' (2013) * ''The ALL BLACKography'' (2014) * ''1875: When Rugby Became the Game for All New Zealand'' (2017) * ''

Murdoch Murdoch ( , ) Is a Scottish and Irish surname and given name. An Anglicized form of the Gaelic personal names ''Muireadhach'' ‘mariner’, ''Murchadh'' ‘sea-warrior’, and ''Muirchertach, Muircheartach'' ‘sea-ruler’, the first element i ...

: The All Black Who Never Returned'' (2018) * ''Our Game: New Zealand Rugby at 150'' (2020) * ''Brutal: The 100-Year Fight for World Rugby Supremacy'' (2021)

Other sports

* ''Bat & Pad: An Anthology of Writings on New Zealand Cricket'' (1987; edited) * ''Champions: New Zealand Sports Greats of the 20th Century'' (2000; written with

Joseph Romanos Joseph Romanos (born 1957) is a New Zealand journalist, author and broadcaster focusing mainly on sport. Life and career Romanos attended St Patrick's College in Wellington. His father Richie Romanos played cricket for Wellington in the 1951� ...

) * ''Black Gold: 100 Years of New Zealand at the Olympic Games: A Statistical Record'' (2008) * ''

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

: New Zealand's First Olympic Winner'' (2013) * ''c Tindill b

Cowie Cowie may refer to: People *Cowie (surname) Places *Cowie, Aberdeenshire, an historic fishing village located at the north side of Stonehaven, Scotland **Cowie Castle, a ruined castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland **Chapel of St. Mary and St. Nathal ...

: The Story of Bradman and New Zealand'' (2013) * '' Joe Scott: The Amazing Story of New Zealand's First World Champion'' (2018)

Other subjects

* ''Kiwi Milestones: New Zealand's Population through the Millions'' (2002) * ''How We Saw the War: 1939–45 through New Zealand Eyes'' (2009) * ''On This Day in New Zealand'' (2010) * ''Kiwi Battlefields'' (2011) * ''The Making of New Zealanders'' (2012) * ''Men of Valour: New Zealand and the Battle for Crete'' (2013) * ''The Star of the South: A History of the Evening Star Newspaper'' (2019)

References

External links

Obituary
in the ''

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (''ODT'') is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and ...

'' including video of Ron Palenski discussing the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palenski, Ron 1945 births New Zealand people of Polish descent 2023 deaths Deaths from cancer in New Zealand New Zealand male cyclists People from Dunedin Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand sportswriters New Zealand biographers Cricket writers 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen