KEY POINTS:
He was an Olympic medallist, the country's first Rhodes scholar, a decorated war hero, a respected medical author, the first New Zealand-born Governor-General and a surgeon to the royal family for three decades.
Wanganui-born Sir Arthur Porritt's life is almost as astounding as it is exhausting to read about.
But despite other notable achievements - including long stints with the International Olympic Committee, Commonwealth Games Federation and as president of the British Medical Association - Sir Arthur had something missing from his illustrious resume.
Modest Sir Arthur - who died in 1994 aged 93 - famously turned down the chance to have his name immortalised in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire alongside his close friends Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell.
He won a bronze medal in the 100-metre final at the 1924 Paris Olympics which the film was partly based on. But Sir Arthur did not allow the film's producers to use his name and his role was substituted with a fictional character called Tom Watson.
But after seeing the picture - which won four Oscars - he realised he had made a huge mistake.
"He thought it was going to be another Hollywood-type movie, which wouldn't do justice to athletics," said Dr Graeme Woodfield, who co-authored No Ordinary Man: The Remarkable Life of Arthur Porritt with Joseph Romanos.
"He was also worried that as a doctor it could have been portrayed as medical advertising, and in those days doctors weren't allowed to advertise.
"It was something he regretted right through to his last days and his family regretted as well."
Dr Woodfield - who had access to Sir Arthur's personal diaries, boxes of documents his daughter Joanna had kept in the United Kingdom and a draft copy of his autobiography - began researching the book while writing about another famous local son, Jack Lovelock.
He said there were similarities between the two men although more people were likely to recognise Lovelock's name rather than Sir Arthur's.
"Both were scholars and Olympic medal winners, but whereas Lovelock was an introvert Porritt was an extrovert and he lived a long life ... I think his story is far more exciting."
The book will be launched at Government House in Wellington on Thursday, and Sir Arthur's daughter will be in attendance.
Dr Woodfield said keeping up with Sir Arthur's achievements was exhausting.
"He had a life that was crammed with activity, so when you read the book you could be forgiven for thinking 'I haven't done anything in life in comparison'."
* No Ordinary Man: The Remarkable Life of Arthur Porritt, by Dr Graeme Woodfield and Joseph Romanos.
