Burt Munro: The Lost Interviews

by Neill Birss

Invercargill, at the far southern end of New Zealand. It's the late 1960s and two blokes sit in a modest shed drinking tea. The old bloke is telling stories about his life; the young bloke, a junior reporter, is typing earnestly on his Olympia portable typewriter. Dramatic tales abound—of youthful scrapes, motorcycle races, and ingenious repairs, of international travel and friendships and road trips, of high speeds and accidents and meetings with dutiful policemen. Burt Munro became known around the world through the 2005 movie The World's Fastest Indian, but had long been known to motorcycle fans as a colorful character and speed record-holder. Our young journalist, Neill Birss, moved away from Invercargill and the interviews he had typed out were never published. In fact, they only resurfaced under strange circumstances many decades later. Here, Munro's voice is as fresh and his stories as vivid as the day he told them to the young reporter.

208 pages, Paperback

Published June 13, 2016

Reviews

[Charles Bookman · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Burt Munro: THe Lost Interviews" as told to Neill Bierss
Improbable tale of Kiwi motorcycle racing legend Burt Munro.
For motorcycle lovers, speed fans, and those attracted to one-of-a-kind characters. Read more at
https://bookmanreader.blogspot.com/20...

[Scott Kilborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent insight into Burt Munros life

[Kun Dániel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an overpriced book, the story is not as fascinating as I expected. However Burt was a really great guy, and his life was in a way fantastic, but the interviews are not so exciting.