Penguin Michael Joseph lands ‘life-affirming’ memoir from actor Neill 

Actor Sam Neill’s memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, has been signed up by Penguin Michael Joseph (PMJ).

Publishing director Rowland White bought UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada, Australia and New Zealand from Sarah Lutyens of Lutyens and Rubinstein on behalf of Michael Heyward at Text Publishing in Melbourne, for publication by PMJ on 21st March 2023.

The publisher says: “Alongside an extraordinary career that’s seen him move effortlessly between big-screen blockbuster, award-winning arthouse cinema and peak television hits, Sam’s also won new friends around the world through his social media posts from Two Paddocks vineyards in New Zealand, now in its 25th year of producing premium organic Pinot Noir.

“The list of actors and directors Sam’s worked with throughout his own brilliant career is long and illustrious, but he brings to his memories of them the same warmth, wry charm and keen observational eye that he devotes to every aspect of a life well led.

“Down to earth, life-affirming and often laugh-out-loud funny, Did I Ever Tell You This? offers a welcome opportunity to enjoy some time in the company of a natural storyteller – from his early childhood in Northern Ireland to ‘Jurassic Park’ and beyond.”

White said of the acquisition: “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be publishing Sam’s wonderful book in the UK. Like so many others, I felt I’d got to know Sam a little bit through lockdown through his wonderfully reassuring, generous and sometimes entertainingly offbeat posts. Sam always seemed to be able to find pleasure in the smallest things at a time when we all needed it. And, from page one, Did I Ever Tell You This? offers all that and more. It’s writing to relish.”