DR. J.E. LOVELOCK

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21938, 12 November 1936, Page 9

DR. J.E. LOVELOCK

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS Sir, —If it is not too late, I venture to express an earnest hope that the various South Island authorities will severely reduce the number of receptions that it is intended to give Dr. Lovelock. If that cannot now be done, then at least let the length of each be reduced by 50 per cent. I saw Dr. Lovelock at the Wellington Basin Reserve last Saturday, and, with the experience o' a long life behind me, I have no hesitation in saying that he is a thoroughly jaded young man. He needs 12 months’ rest and quiet. While he could not easily refuse the Government’s invitation to tour New Zealand, he canno* have accepted it with unqualified readiness, for except for seeing his family again, it must and does mean a very heavy strain on his health.

Two things must inevitably strike all those who see and hear him. One is the absolutely total absence of “skite,” and the other is his beautifully smooth action in running. We did not, of course, see him anything like fully extended on Saturday. It on one occasion when passing the pavilion, he nerceptibly lengthened his stride, and it gave us” a delightful vision of what he must have looked like as he flew over the final 300 metres in Berlin. We could realise, too. what the Oxford University trainer had done for him. He had reallv "made” him as an athlete. His action reminded me of Dr. Harold Munro (of “Barfs.” I think), a great distance man of towards half a century ago, whom some of vour oldest readers may have seen. —yours, etc., SENEX. Wellington, November 10, 1936.