David Dison is best known as a specialist defamation and media lawyer. A founder of the Weekly Mail, he fought numerous anti-censorship cases. Throughout the eighties he represented hundreds of detainees and trialists, most prominently in the Delmas Treason trial. He co-wrote the leading manual for journalists operating under the censorship imposed by the Apartheid state. He was part of the team at Codesa that set up the new media legal system for broadcasting in post-Apartheid SA. He was the founder and deputy chairperson of African Media Entertainment, a media holding company listed on the JSE. He is the author of numerous papers and articles on media and civil rights law. Currently he holds the position of MD of Media and Broadcasting Consultants (Pty) Ltd. He is happily married and has two children. He has lived in Johannesburg all his life. His first novel, Death in the New Republic, was launched successfully by Jacana Media in 2008. It has received wide critical acclaim (from, among others, Rehana Roussouw in The Weekender and Maureen Isaacson in the Sunday Independent).