A bookshop dumps a cookbook sold as a fundraiser to feed people, because the book’s author isn’t woke.

One of the best things to come out of cyclone-ravaged Hawkes Bay in the last year is Jane Morgan’s newly released cookbook titled ‘The Dinner Club’, which is being sold as a fundraiser to feed people.

It’s selling like hotcakes online, but the only local bookshop which stocked it sent Jane a request to collect the remaining books from them asap, because Jane doesn’t believe men can be women.

They also concluded, from trawling through Jane’s social media, that she was “anti-Māori”, which, in an extremely ironic way, is as funny as feck, seeing as Jane’s mother is Māori. However, a Māori simply being honest about Māori crime stats is not excused from being “anti- Māori”, it would seem. Work that one out, if you can.

The dumping of Jane’s book from the bookshop, Wardini Books, is said to have been instigated by a complaint from a known troublemaker, who is also named in several Netsafe complaints. The bookshop owners, apparently being woke up the wazoo, immediately reacted against Jane. I believe they are getting many emails and messages advising them of the error of their ways.

The real life Dinner Club arose out Severe Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle, which devasted parts of the North Island of New Zealand in February 2023. It is the costliest tropical cyclone on record in the Southern Hemisphere. Hawkes Bay, on the east coast of the North Island, was hit hard.

Hawkes Bay is Jane Morgan’s home. As soon as she was able, she set about doing what she could to help those affected by the cyclone. She drove around delivering meals to isolated people in the community, help shovel silt and debris from homes and properties, and set up work crews to assist those elderly in need of some muscular aid to clear the mess from where they lived. Her efforts evolved into scouring for sponsors to fund making a meal on Friday evenings for anyone who wanted it, and volunteers to do the hands-on graft. In due course, it got nicknamed The Dinner Club. The venue for this is now provided at no charge by the Anglican Church, and anyone who comes through that door still gets a meal for free. There is also a table of donated goods there, which are free to anyone who needs them, as well. It was, and remains, a lifeline for many for multiple reasons, and continues to be popular a year on from the cyclone that upended thousands of lives. In early December last year, Jane talked on Reality Check Radio (RCR) about the time after the cyclone, the evolution of The Dinner Club, how people donated what they could to help, and the un-named helicopter pilot who plucked people from rooftops.

The idea to create The Dinner Club cookbook as a fundraiser to continue feeding people gradually emerged. Then followed months of writing up the recipes for the meals which were served there, interspersed with stories from cyclone survivors. It was a winner.

Soon after publication, the trolls started oozing out of troll country, disguised as humans, and spread their toxic smegma -

The bookshop contacted her to remove her books from their premises –

It escalated, disappointingly seeming to be aided and abetted by the daughter of acquaintances. Jane felt forced to cancel the Friday night Dinner Club meals until further notice, while she put out the fires –

So, innocent people miss out on what has become a healing fixture in their lives, because there are others who simply must destroy anyone who isn’t in lockstep with their own beliefs. I would like to know how many other authors of the books Wardini’s stock have been subjected to a purity test. The shelves would be pretty empty if they did that to all authors without bias. As a friend said, when did shops become the arbiters of social causes? They’re a business, and unless a business has been designed specifically to be a ‘social justice warrior’, they should remain apolitical. There are as many different opinions and beliefs on things as there are people in the world. Deal with it, and just do business.

I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of my signed limited edition of The Dinner Club cookbook. The recipes are primarily based on meat and dairy, but there are also some vegetarian and vegan recipes. It’s notable that Jane, who is a vegetarian, didn’t think twice about cooking meat meals. That is true grace and generosity of spirit. For those who would also like to eagerly await a copy, the book can be bought from -

The Dinner Club Cookbook | Hawke's Bay

Trade Me Marketplace

or email: thedinnerclub-hb@mail.com