Julian "Joe" Bennett (born 20 April 1957) is a writer and columnist living in Lyttelton, New Zealand.
Born in England, he emigrated to New Zealand when he was twenty nine. Before his writing career, he worked as a high school teacher at one of Christchurch's leading high schools, Christ's College. Bennett is a columnist for Christchurch's newspaper
The Press and has also authored several books.
From the "Introduction" to
Fun Run and Other Oxymorons he describes himself as follows:
"If anything holds these articles together it is that I like people but not in herds. I distrust all beliefs, most thought and anything ending in ism. Most opinion is emotion in fancy dress."
Bennett is a seasoned hitchhiker and has a dog called Blue. He has previously had two dogs called Baz and Jess. He is fond of dogs and this is reflected in the titles and cover art of many of his books.
He has also been in segments on the New Zealand comedy show
Moon TV hosted by "That Guy" Leigh Hart in a segment called "Bookzone: A Show About Books"