Our trustees were sorry to learn of the death of Dinah Holman on 21 September 2026. Dinah, who was the youngest child of A.R.D. and Jocelyn Fairburn, served on the Auckland Library Heritage Trust from 1997 until 2022. Historian, writer, biographer, friend of libraries and heritage planning consultant, Dinah was also a keen photographer. A number of her photos of buildings, memorials and other places are in Kura Heritage Collections Online and turn up in social media posts.
Colin Davis, who chaired ALHT for many years, comments that 'Dinah was a longtime friend, a fellow student for the diploma in town planning at Auckland University, and a highly regarded colleague on our Trust. Her commitment to heritage is well-documented and widely recognized. Drawing from her family’s literary background and her own deep knowledge of history and expertise in heritage, Dinah brought invaluable strength to the Trust’s mission of preserving and promoting the diverse and rich heritage material held in Auckland Libraries’ heritage collections. Alongside her husband, Tony, she championed environmental causes on Auckland’s North Shore. Their legacy includes their determined advocacy for the purchase and preservation of what is now the Chelsea Estate Heritage Park as a regional reserve.'
Dinah was literary executor of her father's estate and herself wrote both non-fiction (including the history of Newmarket) and fiction. Her 2014 novel A History of Crime - The Southern Double-Cross was longlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award. In 1987 Dinah received her QSO for public service to heritage. The New Zealand Planning Institute awarded her a Distinguished Service Award in 1992.
Trustees remember Dinah with respect and fondness.
Image: Dinah's photo and book cover; source, https://www.rnz.co.nz/
