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Former Auckland lawyer Christopher Harder spent 13 years documenting his rollercoaster career - but it disappeared in an instant when thieves stole his laptop.
Mr Harder said he will give $500 to get the computer back after it was taken when thieves broke into his car.
They also snatched legal documents for Clive Edwards' Tongan sedition case and a 24-hour guide to living life without alcohol.
The documents, book and computer were in the black laptop bag stolen from the boot of his car he had parked on Kingston St, next to the Auckland District Court, while he went out for dinner on Sunday night.
Mr Harder is well known for his battle with alcoholism, which saw him struck from the bar in 2006. He was set to have his application to be readmitted to the legal roll heard by the Law Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal in June last year.
But after several court rulings went against him he sought leave to withdraw the application saying, "there's life outside the law".
He is now concentrating on being an author, and working as a clerk for his former employee Melanie Coxon.
He is also helping former Tongan police minister Clive Edwards who faces sedition charges over his involvement in a political rally which turned to rioting in November 2006.
The laptop holds the unedited version of Mr Harder's autobiographical book Rollercoaster Ride in the Criminal Law, a tale that he claims "does not miss anything out".
Due to be released at the end of 2010, it will be his fourth book and will send a "you only live once, so live" message to readers, he said.
The safe return of the Compaq laptop computer and the other documents would save a lot of time and work, and screeds of original thought which are hard to replicate, Mr Harder said.
"I'm looking for someone with a bit of Christmas cheer - and maybe someone who needs a spare $500."
He spent the day yesterday looking over the footage from the court's surveillance cameras.
The inconvenience of the theft has put a damper on what was otherwise a happy and serene holiday, Mr Harder said. "It's enough to drive an ordinary man to drink - lucky I am extraordinary."
