He received the New Zealand Literary Fund Scholarship in 1966 and had a year free from advertising work to concentrate on fiction. A crisis with alcoholism precipitated Duggan's resignation from advertising in late 1972, and after a period of painful but successful recovery he learned in late 1973 that he had contracted cancer.
He received a New Zealand Literary Fund Scholarship in 1966, and had a year free from advertising work to focus on fiction. A struggle with alcoholism led Duggan to resign from advertising in late 1972, and after a period of difficult but successful recovery, he learned in late 1973 that he had contracted cancer.