Clive Matthew-Wilson was born in 1956 in Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, the son of a wealthy local businessman. Despite being largely educated at exclusive private schools, Matthew-Wilson outraged his parents by leaving school at 15. After several years traveling, he became a motor mechanic. He ended up running his own garage before becoming bored and experimenting with a number of careers, including advertising, songwriting, jewellery, computers, publishing and public relations. He eventually became a professional writer, whose published works include The Information Effect, The Turners & Growers Natural Foods Cookbook & The Dog & Lemon Guide

The Dog & Lemon Guide

The Dog & Lemon Guide is a car buyer's guide originally based in New Zealand, now sold throughout British commonwealth countries and beyond. It is one of the few widely available publications that rank the reliability of cars sold in Australia. It was founded by mechanic and writer, Clive...

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Matthew-Wilson is concerned about police chases frequently ending in fatal accidents.