For the Love of Letters

Thirteen-year-old Hamilton spelling champion Thomas North will compete at the 81st Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C., travelling further than any of the record 288 competitors. North competes a year after Christchurch entrant Kate Weir’s memorable spelling of ‘jardinière’ flummoxed the American judges. North’s mother, Katherine Foulkes says she hopes the judges understand him. “Kate has a particularly southern New Zealand drawl,” Foulkes said. “Thomas, I think, is a little less Kiwi.”