Mervyn Noel Whitley Jnr

I was born in Auckland, New Zealand, being of Niuean, German and English descent, as the fourth of four children, the only boy, to Linda and Mervyn Snr. This singularity of sex became a predicament which helped to solidify the foundations of the precarious journey my life would eventually create itself from. Growing up mostly in Auckland, I spent a number of years learning the ways of the great USA by completing my senior year at Thousand Oaks High School in California. Once arriving back to New Zealand and realizing that this senior year at TOHS was one of the most defining years of my life, I decided to continue on this path of discovery and I dedicated myself, as much as I could, to the arts. So, within the world of acting I placed myself, enjoying the process, enjoying the act of acting and though no great success came from it, some theatre shows, some TV work, many failed auditions, the art suited my journey as much as I felt comfortable within the art. All the while, to survive, I wiped tables, bussed plates of food and poured cocktails in various bars, cafes, nightclubs and restaurants in Auckland, Wellington and Sydney, trying to keep my head above water, trying not to fall too deep within the world of lost intentions and fallen dreams. Whilst taking a break from these lofty ambitions of stage and film super-stardom, I decided to take a break to visit my parents, who at the time, were living in my grandparents native Polynesia. While in the Kingdom of Tonga, I met my (ex)-wife, who gave birth to our three beautiful, wonderful, unique and amazing children, Giantara, Rohan and Sasha. After a few years travelling around the world, in Australia, back to America and a few years in the romantic medieval city of Udine in Italy’s North Eastern region of Friuli Venezia-Giulia, I decided to move back to New Zealand to raise our children, eventually settling in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga, on Aotearoa’s stunning East Coast. I continue to enjoy the challenges and fun of navigating the emotional minefield of raising my quickly growing children.

My children are my Stars,

My Earth and my Sea,

They are my everything,

And nothing in this world could ever be more important to me,

Than they will always be

Now, living on the beach with my children and moonlighting and enjoying being a teacher of English as a Second Language, I dedicate what spare time I have to realizing my dream, to attain a career of expression through writing.

I love life, I love this very moment we are living within right this very moment and I know that there is nothing more powerful in this world than the love that is shared between all those living within this beautiful, beautiful, beautiful world we call life.

Mervyn Noel Whitley Jnr