“Hey, I got a lotta faith in ya …” Footrot Flats is one of the most celebrated and iconic cartoon strips in Aotearoa – anyone could recognise that black-and-white border collie and gumboot-sporting sheep farmer. But who is the man behind such beloved characters?Murray Ball: A Cartoonist’s Life is the long-awaited biography of the famed cartoonist, told from the unique point of view of Mason Ball, Murray’s son. Ball tells the real-life backstory of Murray, depicting a man – and father – who could see the quirks of human nature and capture them with the stroke of a pen. Richly illustrated with family photos and cartoons by the bloke who brought us the Dog. Ball sits in conversation with Assistant Curator for Cartoons and Comics, Sam Orchard, who was one of the archival team working closely with the Ball family to preserve Murray’s work at the Alexander Turnbull Library.